


Two and a Half Weeks

by wanderingwitchoftime



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Domestic, But mostly fluff, Fluff, M/M, there will be smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-15 11:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 55,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1302727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingwitchoftime/pseuds/wanderingwitchoftime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Egbert goes to visit Rose Lalonde at her college in Texas. He doesn't expect to meet anyone, or at least no one like Dave Strider. But, then again, John didn't know that people like Dave Strider exist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. He didn't break the ice, He completely ignored the ice until it melted all by itself.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction! I'm open to critique. I'm super confused over the formatting, so you'll have to deal with uncolored pesterlogs for now. Sorry!! Bear with me here, I'll do some research and figure it out eventually.

It’s so hot. It is so hot. I knew Texas was going to be hot… but it’s really hot okay.  
I’m supposed to find Rose. She’s been going to college here in Texas. We were going to meet at the airport, but her girlfriend’s best friend had a mental breakdown or something. So after I got off the plane, I decided to walk around outside the airport until I got tired and then I’d catch a cab to her house. It ought to be soon, what with the luggage…  
Oh, shit. That’s Rose! I would know the platinum blonde hair and slim figure anywhere. What’s she doing? She’s got headphones on. Red headphones? She doesn’t wear red. Shit, she’s walking. Gotta catch her.  
I try my best to run with the rolling suitcase in my hand. She’s walking really slowly, so I catch up with her fast and wrap both arms around her waist from behind, dropping my bag. Her body tenses up… This isn’t her. Oh my god, this isn’t her. It’s obvious as soon as my arms are settled, that this is definitely not rose. Without letting go, I timidly look up to see a platinum blonde haired boy with dark aviators on looking down at me. He doesn’t seem mad, mostly just amused. Quickly, I release my arms and stand up straight. He takes his head phones off his ears and leaves them hanging around his neck.  
He’s waiting for me to talk. Um… “I’m sorry! I thought you were someone—a friend, I’m supposed to be meeting with her… I mean, you don’t look like a girl, or anythi…”  
I blabber on for a bit until one corner of his mouth curves up. “It’s cool.”  
“Oh, okay, eheh...”  
“What’s your name?”  
What? I was planning on leaving. But okay. I faintly hear his music… something techno that I’ve never heard. But I don’t listen to techno very often.  
“I’m John.” I stick my hand out to shake.  
He looks at my hand for a second before reaching out to it with his left hand and forming it into a fist. Still holding my wrist, he bunps me with his right hand.  
“Dave,” he says quietly but clearly. His voice is really smooth, and slow, and clear, and cool, and sexy. Like, a girl might think that.  
“What’s your girlfriend’s name?” He asks coolly, backing up to lean against a pillar. I grab my suitcase and walk forward until I’m right in front of him.  
“Rose is not my girlfriend. Just a friend. She’s dating someone, who I’ve never met but I’ve heard she’s great. ”  
“Oh, of course. My bad.” He sounds sarcastic, but I don’t know why he would be?  
“Yeah, well I just got off the plane from Washington. She was gonna meet me there but something came up,”  
“Do you know where she lives?”  
“Yeah,”  
“I’ll give you a lift.”  
Whoa, what? He’s weirdly friendly for someone so, like… cool. “Uh, not that you seem creepy of anything, but stranger danger…”  
He smiles that crooked smile again. “Well, shit. I thought we could be friends, John.”  
“Oh, man…” Whoops, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. “You do seem really nice but I gotta be safe.”  
“Yeah, it’s fine,” He pushes off the pillar, and suddenly he’s close enough that I feel his breath and I have to look up to see his face.  
“We could exchange numbers. Meet up in a public space. You could bring a friend along for security. Ya gotta be safe.”  
It’s like he’s whispering, but I can hear him clearly. He’s, like, half a head taller than me.  
“How old are you?” I ask, because he could be 15 or he could be 25. I can’t fucking tell.  
“I’m 23. You?”  
“20.”  
“So I can bang you but I can’t get you drunk?”  
“Wha—What?”  
“Just a joke, sorry.” He mutters, but his voice is still clear.  
He pulls out his phone, taps and scrolls, and then hands it to me. It’s the New Contact page. I glance at him before typing in my chumhandle. I’m nervous about it, but I trust him, I think. I think kidnappers and shit usually act more normal.  
He backs up one step. “You sure you don’t want a ride?”  
I look down and around, biting my lip. He waits.  
“Alright—No, I shouldn’t. You could drive me to the other side of the state and I’d have no idea until we got there.”  
“Your choice, bro.”  
I end up calling a cab, but he sits with me while I wait and he’s actually really cool. And dorky. He acts all cool, but he’s totally a dork.  
“I’ll text you later.” He says when the cab pulls up. I wave good bye.  
I give the cabbie Rose’s address. She’s got an off campus apartment that she shares with this guy named Karkat. Rose met Kanaya, her girlfriend, through Karkat. It’s been, like, 2 years and I’m only now meeting them.  
I think about Dave during the ride. I’m looking forward to hanging out with him again. We got along really well I think!  
I get to Rose’s apartment, and Karkat and Kanaya are both sitting on the couch.  
“Come in,” Rose greets in her velvet voice.  
Kanaya is standing up as I walk through the door and she saunters over to me. Her right hand falls onto my shoulder.  
“John, I have heard so much.”  
“I’ve heard a lot about you too!” Wow, her voice is really similar to Rose’s.  
Her left arm delicately wraps around my back and she pulls me in. I hug her back tighter. It’s a long hug and I’m so happy to meet her. Karkat stands up awkwardly, looking flustered.  
“Karkat!” I shout, ending the hug and turning toward him. He starts shaking his head when I walk towards him with open arms.  
“No, don’t hug me, Asshole.”  
I do anyway, and he doesn’t protest.  
“I’m so excited to meet you guys!!”  
“Same to you, John.” Kanaya smiles.  
“John,” Rose says to get my attention. “Want to see your room?”  
I nod and follow after her. It’s a nice apartment. I think she told me it has two bedrooms and one bathroom. The living room was an okay-size and the kitchen was sort of small, but Rose doesn’t cook. Maybe Karkat does, though.  
She walks me into one of the bedrooms. I look around and determine that Rose usually sleeps in here. There are dark posters on the wall, a small book shelf overflowing with books, and a violin laying on top of a dresser. She must have cleaned, because she usually keeps her room pretty messy.  
“Thanks, Rose.”  
I turn around and see Rose softly smiling at me. I pull her into a tight hug which she returns.  
“I’ve missed you, John.”  
“I’ve missed you too,”

Later on, during a lag in the conversation, I decide to talk about Dave.  
“So, I was wandering around and I met someone,” I began. Rose looked up.  
“Oh?”  
“I actually—it’s funny, I thought he was you. And I hugged him from behind.” She chuckles. I go on, “He was really cool about it. We talked and he offered me a ride, bu—”  
“You didn’t get in the car, did you?” Karkat asked irritably.  
“No, I mean, duh. I’m not stupid. I gave him my chumhandle.”  
“What’s he like?” Kanaya chirped, looking up from her tea.  
“Well, he looks a lot like Rose from behind. Same hair color and he’s pretty skinny. He’s funny and cool and dorky. He said some inappropriate things! But yeah, he seems nice. His name’s Dave.”  
“Would you like to see him again?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Is he cute?”  
“Uh, yeah, I guess.”  
I look at Karkat, who is listening intently. “Has he messaged you yet?” He asks.  
I shake my head. Karkat lean back.  
Someone changes the subject. It takes a while for Dave to finally message me.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] --  
TG: hey its dave  
EB: hey!  
TG: whats up with your handle what even is ectobiology  
EB: i don't know, someone said something to me a while ago and it stuck  
TG: yeah okay that totally cleared things up  
EB: what about you, what does your handle mean?  
TG: its ironic  
EB: ironic?  
TG: yeah  
EB: what does that mean?  
TG: i dont know  
TG: its an art form  
EB: is it?  
TG: yeah  
TG: ya gotta master it  
TG: everyone has their own style  
TG: bro loves shitty puppets i love shitty drawings  
TG: choose your own adventure

I’m actually laughing out loud, and everyone’s looking at me.  
“Is that Dave?” Rose asks. I nod.

EB: Dave stop, people are staring.  
TG: whatre you talking about  
EB: I'm laughing!  
TG: well stop this shit is serious  
EB: yeah right.  
EB: really though, what does it mean?  
TG: its like  
TG: getting a kick out of stupid worthless shit  
TG: like if there was a dumb show and i watched it anyway its ironic  
EB: but why would you do that?  
TG: what  
EB: why would you fake like stuff when you could real like stuff!  
TG: everyone does that thats boring  
EB: no it's not!  
TG: irony is my legacy john  
TG: a strider tradition  
EB: strider?  
TG: my last name  
TG: whats yours  
EB: egbert  
TG: are you shitting me  
EB: what?  
TG: youre lying huh  
TG: because you think im dangerous  
TG: dont wanna give me your information thats cool  
TG: but come on you expect me to believe your last name is egbert  
EB: it is! that's my real last name!  
TG: no shit  
EB: shit!  
TG: john egbert  
TG: yeah i guess youre dorky enough for that name  
EB: i'm not dorky!

I talk to him for a long time. I ask about his brother. I find out that his real name is Dirk, but he pretty much always goes by Bro. He has a lot of smuppets, which are weird puppets with big butts and big noses. He works in robotics. I ask how often they see each other. Dave says he lives like 3 hours away. Bro sometimes randomly shows up at Dave’s house without warning. Other than that, they get together on Halloween and Christmas.

TG: yeah so whats hot in washington

I tell him about my dad and nanna. He asks if I ever considered leaving Washington. I tell him that I wanted to go to college, but I didn’t get in to the places I really wanted, so I decided to wait. He says he never wanted to go to college, and that he wants to move to New York.

EB: why New York?  
TG: because new yorks awesome thats why  
TG: i wanna dj at a club or something  
EB: what do you do now?  
TG: well i dj at school dances and stupid shit  
TG: but i also sometimes rap at open performances  
EB: you rap?  
TG: yeah  
EB: cool!  
TG: so what do you do  
EB: nothing right now. I work part time jobs and stuff.  
TG: what do you want to do  
EB: i'm… not really sure! i guess thats another reason i'm waiting for college  
TG: huh

I can’t really think of what to reply, so instead I wait. It take a while, but eventually he says

TG: so do you wanna hang out soon  
EB: sure!  
TG: when are you free  
EB: pretty much whenever.  
TG: how about tomorrow at 4 pm

“Will I be busy tomorrow at 4 pm?” I ask. Everyone’s still sitting in the living room, but no one was talking. They all look up.  
“I don’t think so.” Rose answers. “Making plans?”  
“Dave wants to hang out.”  
“Do you want to go alone?” She asks.  
I do, but I shouldn’t. I should take someone for security. He is still a stranger.  
“Would you mind coming?”  
“Not at all.”

EB: yeah that works.  
EB: do you mind if i bring a friend?  
TG: nope go ahead  
EB: okay  
EB: where are we going?  
TG: i dont know  
TG: we could go to a bunch of thrift shops  
TG: thats always hilarious

I had never gone to thrift shop for any reason other than shopping. But okay, I’ll see how this goes.

EB: alright cool!  
TG: ill pick you guys up if you want

“Rose?”  
“Yes, John?”  
“He’s offering to pick us up.”  
“How nice of him.”  
“But, should I give him your address?”  
“John, quit being an idiot.” Karkat broke in. “Most people aren't fucking criminals.”  
“I know, but most people don't talk to random strangers either.”  
“Do you have his last name?” Kanaya asks.  
“Yes?”  
“Let’s look him up.”

EB: okay, be right back!

Kanaya and I walk over to the desktop. Kanaya sits in the chair and I lean over her.  
“Name please,” She says as she opens Google.  
“Dave Strider.”  
“What a douche.” I hear Karkat say from the couch. Rose chuckles.  
“Wow,” Kanaya breathes. On the computer screen, there’s a weird, low quality, brightly colored webpage. It says “SWEET BRO AND HELLA JEFF”. Under the title, there are links to “NEXT COMIC FIRST” “NEXT COMIC BACK W ARDS” “NEXT… COMIC” and “NEWEST COMIC”. And under all that, there’s a shitty comic. We read a few, and they make no sense, but we laugh anyway.  
“What is this?” I ask, not sure why we’re looking at it.  
“A comic series, written and illustrated by Dave Strider.”  
“He said he loved shitty drawings.”  
Rose and Karkat had gotten up to look with us.  
“What the shit.” Karkat kept grumbling. I laugh at him.  
“Did you find anything else?” Rose asks.  
Kanaya goes back to the search page. He’s listed on the website of a club where he raps sometimes. He and Bro were in the newspaper a couple times for their sword-fighting skills. Wow.  
“This is one special guy you picked up, John.” Rose laughs. “Go ahead, give him our address.”  
So I do. Dave says he has to work on something, so I leave him alone. I decide to stay up with them for a while longer.  
“So, John, how are things back in Washington? How’s Jade?” Rose asks.  
It hasn’t been super long since we’ve seen each other. She’s visited Washington a couple times since she started college. We just always ask each other stuff like that, and it usually starts a conversation.  
“Oh! Did she tell you? She got into a college in California, she enrolled for the fall classes this year.”  
“Wow. Is it a good college?”  
“Yeah, I think so.”  
“I’ll have to go visit her there. When is she moving?”  
“In a couple months. She’s really excited to meet her roommate.”  
“Does she know who it is?”  
“I think—I think her name’s Feferi.”  
“What a pretty name.” Kanaya hummed.  
We went on like this for a while. I ask Karkat and Kanaya about their classes and what they want to do and stuff. We go to bed around 11:00. Kanaya sleeps over.


	2. Hey beta kids, can we go thrift shopping?

What time is it? 1:48pm. Should I get ready? No, too early. Don’t want my clothes to get wrinkled and shit.

I fall onto my bed and let out a long breath. When am I going to leave? I groan and sit up to look at the directions I printed out. According to google, it will take about 15 minutes to get there without traffic. But there might be traffic. So I’ll leave 15 minutes early, at 3:30 pm.

It’s almost 2:00 pm. So I’ve got, like, an hour and a half. I’ll get dressed at 3:00. So what should I do now?

When I’m nervous, I usually start mixing beats to calm me down. I decide to go mix some beats, but it’s not because I’m nervous, which I’m not.

Why should I be? He’s just a dorky kid with impossibly blue eyes and a wide smile. I could see all of his teeth. Who likes big teeth? Dave Strider doesn’t. And those huge, black glasses that go great with his eyes. He’s so dorky, it’s unreal.

So I sit down by my turntables and plug my head phones in. I graze my hand over the beauties. I think about my first turntables, the little ‘training’ ones Bro got me when I turned ten. By the time I was 15, I was much better at mixing. Bro promised he’d get me better tables. He just needed some money. I told him it was okay, I can wait. I was still on the shitty training tables when I turned 20, and I had forgotten about his promise. But then when I walked into my apartment that night after work (I had a steady job DJing a roller rink for a while) he was sitting on my couch.

“Happy Birthday, Bud.”

“Thanks, Bro.”

He got up and ruffled my hair.

“Dude, what the fuck.”

“You coming over for Christmas?”

“Is that an invitation?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll come.”

“See you then,”

“Bye,”

And he left after that. I didn’t find the turntables until the next morning. I called him right away.

“Sup,” He had greeted.

“Damn it, Bro, they’re beautiful.”

“You’re welcome. Send me a mix every once in a while. Gotta know you’re puttin them to use.”

“Yeah, okay,” I felt myself tearing up, which is stupid, because Striders don’t cry. There was silence on the line.

“Love you, Little Man.” Bro said after a while.

“Love you too, Bro.”

That barely ever happened. Getting all emotional and shit. I think about that day a lot.

I mix for, like, half an hour. Then I send the mix to Bro. He rarely replies, but I know he listens because he mentions them when we see each other.

I read some comments on the last SBAHJ comic. Then, all of a sudden, it’s 2:57. So I shut down my laptop and walk over to my closet.

I stand there for a minute after opening my closet doors. I pull out my pepsi cola shirt, put it on, take it off, try on my shitty fruit clip art shirt—one of my favorites—and take it off. Eventually I land on a thin, orange, long sleeve shirt I stole from Bro a while back. Orange wasn’t really my color, but I look good in it. I put on my gray skinny jeans, which I don’t wear a lot. I almost always wear black skinny jeans. I have two identical pairs. I put on my black Chucks and style my hair like I usually do. My sunglasses are already on. When I’m ready, I check the time. 3:41. Whoops.

I hurry to my red 2011 Ram 1500. I put on some music and turn it way up. Then I drive.

There isn’t much traffic, but it seems like I catch every red light. I get to Rose’s apartment at 4:06.

Before I message John, I turn the music down, so that it’s easy to talk over, but I can still hear it. I try to have music on whenever I can.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] --

TG: im here  
TG: dang these apartments are nice  
TG: i should move into this building  
TG: rose and i can become bros  
TG: oh hey i see you

I get out of the car to greet them. I look Rose over, and she looks me over.

“You think we look alike?” We ask, (almost) in unison. They laugh. Her laugh is quiet and reserved.

I look at John. He’s wearing a blue and black striped T-shirt and khaki shorts with white Vans. What a fucking dork.

He looks adorable.

“Hello,” I say quietly, locking eyes with him. Not that he can tell.

“Hi, Dave! This is Rose.”

I turn back to her. She finds my eyes before I find hers. I raise my eyebrows in surprise, and she smirks. I feel John looking at us in anticipation. I nod at her. She narrows her eyes before turning to John.

“Ready?”

“Shotgun!” John calls, reaching for the door handle. I walk around the front of the car, thinking about Rose.

That was pretty weird. It’s like we talked telepathically, like twins or some shit. I gaze at her through the rear view mirror once I’m in the car. She smiles a knowing smiled once again.

“Where to first?” She asks.

“I’m thinkin Thrift Town first. That place is so run down, its got the best stuff.”

I become aware that John is tapping his fingers to the music. When I look over, his head is swaying, too.

“Do you like it?” I ask him. It's a CD I burned of my own mixes. Maybe it’s narcissistic or whatever but I don’t really care.

“What?”

“The music.”

“Oh, yeah,” He grins. “What is it?”

“They’re just some mixes I made.” It’s just techno. I never record my raps. I had tried, but I don’t have any good equipment for that. I’d probably never listen to them in front of other people, anyway.

“You’re very talented, Dave.” Rose remarks.

“Thanks,” I pause. “What are you majoring in, Rose?”

“Psychology.”

“Cool,” Figures. That’s how she can fucking read my mind.

We keep light conversation in the car. I park in a spot near the front and we get out.

“Jeez, it’s so hot here.” John complains, pulling at his shirt.

I smirk. “How long are you staying here?

“Two and a half weeks.”

“Better get used to it.”

 I open the door to the air conditioned thrift store. John visibly reacts.

“So what do you do in thrift shops, Dave?” John asks.

“Look at the stupid broken toys and shit, try on stupid clothes…”

“Like…” John runs over to a clothing rack and pulls a bright green felt suit jacket with fabric extending down the back. “This?”

“Fuck yes, put it on.”

He pulls it on over his shirt. His shoulders sag. “Whoa, it’s heavy,”

“Do a runway walk.” Rose calls.

He delivers. He pulls his shoulders back and struts forward a few steps before turning and strutting back. I realize I’m smiling when he turns to face us. I fix that immediately.

It’s a pretty small place but it’s got the weirdest shit, things people are too embarrassed to give to Good Will.

I’m pretending to text Rose with a small lilac keyboard that doesn’t have any letters. Instead, it has things like “lol,” “ttyl,” “brb,” and “so cute!” She replies using a typewriter missing three keys. She uses Old English for effect. We read aloud what we’re typing.

“Thy words are but jumbled letters, whatever is a ‘lawl?’”

"Ur gr8!"

John comes over holding a baby doll. Like, one of those weird hard plastic things with eyes that close when the baby is horizontal.

“Look at this doll!” He’s laughing. I walk up to him and inspect the doll.

“What is it?”

“It’s _creepy!_ It has red eyes!”

Oh, of course. I noticed that, but it didn’t register as creepy. Though, I am more used to red eyes than most. Its dress is red and white.

“Oh,” I take the doll from him. “I think it’s pretty.”

“Well, sure, but why would they even make a doll with red eyes? No one has red eyes.”

“Albinos have red eyes.” I realize I’m getting defensive and that I need to stop.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Rose gets up to look at the doll. “Not many people have purple eyes, you know. I wish I had a doll with eyes like mine.” She says to John. I have a feeling she knows I’m upset. She takes the doll from me and runs her fingers through its blonde hair, untangling it. “It’s a very pretty doll once you get past the eyes. I think I’ll buy it.”

“Haha, you do that. Are we going to move on now?”

“Yeah. Salvation Army is next.”

Rose checks out and we walk back out to the truck.

“Shotgun.” Rose calls delicately before John opens the door.

“But—” He starts.

“Rules are rules, Egbert.” I say, climbing into the driver’s seat.

“What color are your eyes?” Rose asks quickly, before John gets in the car.

“Fuck off,” I answer as John’s door opens.

“Thou art being a bit defensive.”

“Thou needs to shut the fuck up.”

“Thou _need,_ ”

“Whatever.”

John laughs. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing,” I start the car, kind of pissed that Rose figured it out. I mean, what the hell? All I said was that the stupid doll was pretty. I wonder if she gets on anyone else’s nerves like this.

Rose and John are talking about something. I choose not to join in. When I finally park, John gets out first. Rose grabs my hand to get my attention.

“Why do you wear those glasses?”

“I’ve been wearing sunglasses since I can remember. My eyes are sensitive to light.”

“May I—”

John opens my door. “Come onnn. Rose, may I remind you that you have a girlfriend.”

Rose and I chuckle. John smiles.

I let him pull me out of the car, if only to hold his hand for a moment. It’s really warm.

“Whoa, Egbert, you’re hot.” Rose giggles. “I mean, your hand.”

“Haha, I know. It’s like a million degrees here.” John muses.

Salvation Army is bigger and better-kept than Thrift Town.

“I say we split up to find something hilarious to try on and meet by the dressing rooms.” Rose suggests. I nod, John smiles. We part ways.

\----

I wander down the clothing isles looking for something good. There are some ugly sweaters and ripped jeans but I feel like there’s something better. I consider these obnoxiously bright yellow booty shorts, but then I see something. A wedding dress. I try not to bring too much attention to myself when I run over and pull the hanger off the rack. I walk over to the dressing rooms as casually as I can and find an open room.

It’s hard to get it on without stepping on the train or ripping it. I can’t zip it up all the way because it’s out of my reach. After it’s on comfortably enough, I take out my phone and message Dave and Rose.

EB: ready when you are!

I wait.

TG: im done  
TG: is rose

I wait longer.

TT: I’m finished. Is Dave?

I tell them both to come out and step out myself. Dave comes out shortly after me.

I look at him, jaw dropped. He’s wearing red lingerie— a coquette cut corset that stops above his light blonde happy trail and red velvet boy-short panties. He’s standing casually, a hand on his waist, one leg bent. He looks casual, too, as if his bulge isn’t completely noticeable. I look back up at his face and he’s smirking at me.

“Like what you see?” He says in his low, smooth voice.

I feel myself blushing. His smirk grows as I uncomfortably shift my weight.

“You look gorgeous. You’ll make a wonderful bride one day.”

I walk the, like, 10 feet between us just to push him back dramatically. He almost falls and for a second he looks surprised but it changes quickly to amusement.

Once he’s standing straight again, still smirking, I push him again. This time, he falls on his butt and I burst out laughing. Before I even notice him getting up, he’s pushing me against a wall and holding me on my tip toes. We’re so close our chests are touching.

“You’re so fast, Dave!” I say. He breathes out a laugh. Our lips are so close that I feel the air brush against my lips. Our noses touch.

“Bro taught me.”

I hear a rip in the dress.

“Shit,”

“They wont care. No one actually buys wedding dresses from Thrift Stores.

“Wait, where’s Rose?” I think aloud. She clears her throat loudly.

We both look over and she’s smirking. She waves once. Dave lets me down and adjusts his corset.

“I’ve been here since the first time John pushed you, Dave.”

She’s wearing wrinkled suit pants and an ugly, green men’s waist coat with nothing under it. Even though the clothing is ugly, she looks cute. The vest doesn’t quite meet the pants, so you can see a bit of her stomach. Her hands are on her hips.

“I think I’ve been beaten,” She grins. “John, I could be your husband. Almost.”

“And I could be a stripper at your bachelor party.” Dave chimes in, walking toward her. I follow.

“Rose, I thought I said no strippers.” I fake-whined.

“I told my best man not to order any, but he did anyway. It’s not my fault.”

“Well that still doesn’t explain why he came to the ceremony.”

“We bonded.”

We laugh. Even Dave chuckles.

“We better go change,” Rose says. So we go change.

It takes me a while to get the dress of at one point, I fall over.

“Shit,”

“You okay in there?” Rose calls.

“Yeah. It might take a minute, though…”

“Alright, let me know if you need anything.”

I mumble an ‘okay,’ and continue fumbling with the folds and layers of the dress. I hear Dave and Rose talking, but I can’t tell what they’re saying. I’m glad they’re getting along.

Finally, I walk out, trying not to let the dress touch the ground. Dave and Rose are sitting on a bench together. Rose is sitting up, great posture, as usual. Dave is hunched over, his elbows on his knees. He’s wearing that thin, loose, orange shirt. It hangs loosely on his shoulders. It looks good. His head is turned to Rose.

She waves to me and I hurry over. We hang around Salvation Army for a while longer before Dave suggests we go eat.

Stretching his arms over his head so that his shirt rises up a bit, he groans. “I’m so hungry I could eat a puppet. Dinner, anyone?”

“Please,” Rose sighs.

We make our way out to the car. I call shotgun first this time.

“What do yall feel like eatin?” Dave asks before starting the car.

“What’s good around here?”

“There’s a great Mexican food place just a few blocks from here.” Rose suggests.

“Yeah, I know that place.” Dave replies. “Everyone good with Mexican?”

We agree and he starts driving.

“Soo,” Rose starts after a minute. “We found your webcomic.” I laugh.

He smiles. “Hahh. What’d you think?”

“I liked it!” “Very well done.” We praise. He nods, still smirking.

"How’d you find it?”

“We googled you.” Rose answers.

He chuckles. “Trust me yet?”

“Well, it’s kinda scary that you know how to use a sword.” I joke.

“I could protect you.” He looks at me for a second then turns back to the road.

“Do you actually own a sword?”

“Hell yeah I do. I’ve got a few. One’s in the back,”

“You keep one in your car?”

“You never know when you’ll need it.”

There’s some shuffling in the back and then Rose’s voice—“Ah! Here we are.”

She holds up a, maybe, 2 foot sheathed katana. The sheath and handle are a deep brown with dark red accents. The sheath has “ _Strider”_ carved into it in cursive.

“Holy shit, can I see that?” I request, holding my hands out.

“Ay, no katanas in the front seat while I’m driving.”

“Can I see it later?”

“Yeah, promise.”

“John wants to see your katana, Dave.” Rose says softly. She doesn’t tell sex jokes very often, and when she does, they’re not even spectacular. So I’m always surprised when she does, because I don’t think there’s any technique behind her timing.

I know that I’m blushing, so I turn to Dave to see if he is. If he is, I can’t tell.

“Any time, Egbert.” He responds, finally. I’m starting to wish I never told him my last name.

“Pshh,” Is all I say.

It doesn’t take long to get to the restaurant. It’s a pretty average-looking place, but we have to wait, like, 10 minutes.

“I’m telling you, this place is really good. So it’s popular.” Dave goes on. Rose silently agreed.

When we were finally seated, the service is good and the food is better.

“Mm. _Mm._ ” I moan as I taste my smothered burrito. Dave stares at me as I exaggerate my facial expressions and _mm_. It's weird, though. Like he's flustered, but like, no-emotion flustered? Like he's spacing out. I smile at him and he looks away.

\----

It’s happening. I like this kid.

This dorky, stupid, mess of a kid. This cute, funny, asshole. Fuck.

And I’m thinking about that as he chews his food, making orgasm faces and shit. I’m thinking about how possible it is that he likes me. I’m spacing out, staring at his face until he smiles. He smiles a close mouthed weird little smile at me as he chews, and I immediately look away.

After dinner we go to my apartment so I can show John my swords, since he kept _begging_.

“Daaaaave.”

“Sup?”

“When can I see your sword?”

“I don’t know, probably not today.”

“ _Daaaaave.”_ He stretches his arms in front of him and curves his back. His head is turned towards me.

I look at him for a second. “Quit trippin.”

“Dave. Dave come on. Dave _please.”_

I keep looking at the road silently. He whimpers. He literally whimpers, or whines, or whatever you want to call it. And it is incredibly hot, but I don’t respond.

He’s being all dramatic, waving his arms, slouching, as if he doesn’t realize that anyone who happened to gaze at my truck would see him.

“AWW, Dave!” He whines loudly. I shift my weight. This whole whining act is turning me on way more than I’d like to admit.

“Jesus, fine. We’ll go to my apartment.” I groan.

“Thanks, Dave!” He chimes as if nothing happened. I let out a long breath.

I gaze at Rose through the rear view mirror. She’s smirking.

So anyway, I park in front of my apartment building, and John jumps out. I turn the car off and follow suit. He opens one of the backdoors and reaches for the katana.

“I’ve got more in my apartment, ya know.”

“How many do you have?”

“Three in my apartment, one in my car, and a couple over at Bro’s place.”

Once Rose is out of the car, we start walking toward the building. John’s walking backwards in front of us like the dork he is. Neither of us tell him that he’s about to hit the door.

But he seems unfazed. He just turns around, pushes open the door, and keeps walking.

“So,” He begins, stopping in front of us. “Where’s your apartment?”

“Follow me,” I lead them to the elevator, click the 5th floor button, and walk them to room 274.

“Welcome to Casa De Strider”

They look around for a second.

“Very nice.” Rose smiles. I nod as a ‘thanks.’

“The swords are in my room.”

I walk into the short hall and open the door on the left. John and Rose are right behind me.

I take two katanas off of my wall and turn around to see them still looking around. John’s walking and touching things while Rose stands, barely moving her head.

“What are these?” John asks, standing over my turntables. He starts touching the records.

“Uh-uh, no, don’t touch those.” I grab his hands and gently pull them away. “Turntables. They’re expensive.”

“Oops, sorry!” I let his hands go. “What are they for?”

“Mixing music, Idiot.”

“You’re an idiot.” He mumbles.

I bump him with my hip and he moves, like, a foot and a half. He walks back and bumps me but I don’t move. He sticks his tongue out.

“You’re a fucking dork.”

I grab the two katanas from my bed where I put them. “Come on, let’s go to the roof.”

We go to the top floor via elevator and then use the stairs to get to the roof.

“We’re so high up!” John mused.

“The view is beautiful.” Rose added.

“You should see the sunset from up here.” I tell them. We take a moment to stare at the sky and the buildings below before I continue. “Bro and I would always strife on the roof.” I hand John one of the swords. “That’s how he taught me to use one of these.”

John slowly took the katana out of its sheath, looking like a deer in headlights. He stares at it for a while. I laugh at him.

When he looks up, I take a starting stance. “Ready?”

His eyebrows shoot up. “What? I can’t strife with you.”

I chuckle, and it’s more condescending than real. “I won’t hurt you,”

“Don’t tempt him, Dave.” Rose warned.

“I’m _not_ going to hurt him,” I say again, dropping my stance.

“Promise?” John asks.

“Promise.”

He nods. I get back into my stance and he tries to mimic it. He tries to make a dedicated, dangerous face, which makes me smile. Even though he looks ridiculous, it’s still pretty hot.

“Guys, come on, this is dangerous.” Rose tries. I shake my head at her. She sighs.

I lock eyes with John. I don’t know if he can tell. He flinches as I take a step forward. Once I actually make the first move, he stands straight, as if in surrender, and freezes up. My sword is at his neck in a second. We’re close like earlier. Are chests are almost touching and my feet are right next to his. His sword is in his right hand, hanging to the side. I’m breathing heavy and it doesn’t look like he’s breathing at all.

“Dude,” I whisper to him. He blinks a couple times.

“I’m not good at this,” He mutters.

“No,”

We stand there for a while.

“Can you… Get your sword away from my neck?” He requests eventually.

I carefully move it and take a step back. “Sorry.”

He picks up the sheath he had put on the ground and sheathes the katana. “That was fun, I guess.”

“Hah, well, you’d like it more if you were any better at it.”

“It’s not my fault I didn’t grow up with a crazy, puppet loving big brother.” He shoves my shoulder. “Maybe I can watch you and him strife.”

“We’ll see.”

We start walking downstairs.

“When’s the next time your bro’s gonna visit?”

“I told you, he doesn’t tell me. He just randomly breaks in sometimes. Fuckin annoying.”

“Text me next time he comes.”

“Yeah, because I’m so eager for you to meet him.”

“Come on, I’m sure he’s great.”

“Oh yeah he’s fucking awesome. But that doesn’t mean I want you to meet him.”

Bro knows me better than anyone else. He’d be able to pick up on my little crush easily. And then, well, Bro loves to embarrass me when he knows I need him not to. And he’s good at it, too. He’s probably the only person who _can_ embarrass me. I’m not going to tell John about that.

“But _whyyyyyy?_ ”

“Because shut the fuck up.”

“You’re such a baby.”

That surprises me, and I stop walking to look at him. But then I start walking again before anyone says anything. “You’re a dick.” Is my reply. He laughs.

We go back down to my apartment and put my swords away. Rose and I sit on the bed while John starts looking around again.

“Your room’s so cool.” John tells me, finally done looking.

“Thanks,” I look around. I’ve never liked it that much. But okay.

He sits on the bed next to rose. “What time is it?”

I take my iPhone out of my pocket and check. “9:13”

“Woo, late.” He leans back onto the bed.

Rose sighs. “We should go. I’ve got an early class tomorrow.”

I’m irrationally disappointed. But I nod and stand up. “Alright, lets go.”

I drive them home and say goodbye. Before Rose leaves the car, I ask her,

“Hey, do you have a Pesterchum?”

She sinks back into her seat. “I wouldn’t expect cool kid like you to use Pesterchum.”

“Ironic.”

“Of course,” She smiles at me, finding my eyes with ease. “tentacleTherapist.”

“That’s fucking weird.”

“I made it when I was ten.”

I stare at her for a moment before letting the ends of my lips turn up the slightest bit. I don’t think John or anyone else would have noticed the change, but she sure did.

“I’ll text you.” I tell her.

She looks out the window at John, who’s waiting outside.

“Goodbye, Dave Strider.”

“Goodbye, Rose…”

“Lalonde.”

“Lalonde. Bye.”

She smiles again before she leaves. I wave at John before driving away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be posting a chapter every Wednesday! I've written way ahead of this chapter, and I think I'll be able to keep up with myself. And by that I mean, I'll always have another chapter to post. I think I'll just do normal pesterlogs, by the way.  
> I love the comments I've been getting, by the way! keep em coming!  
> It would mean a lot, like a lot a lot, if you spread the word about this fic! It'd be super cool if this gets popular. I already feel great about the little traffic I've been getting.  
> Oh oh oh! And if you ever think, hey, I should totally draw fan art for this fanfic, DO IT. Haha. For real though, that would be so cool mdjmhgkfd. My tumblr URL is wanderingwitchoftime so if you do draw something, submit it or tag my URL. Maybe I'll start a page on my blog for this fic and start tracking "Two and a Half Weeks."  
> Okay, this is way too long, and you're probably all bored by now. I just wanted to put this stuff out there. My notes will usually be shorter :) Byee!  
> ps. I'm seeing my note from the first chapter on this? so if you're seeing that too, i don't know why that's happening. Just ignore it.


	3. Two Options

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is sort of short. It's one of my favorite chapters though because I don't know why. Posting it a little early. ::::)

I figure there’s two ways to go when you develop a crush on someone. You can ignore it until it’s gone, or you can try to win your crush over. So I need to figure out what to do here.  
What I’ve gathered about John is this:  
1\. He’s super dorky, especially in looks.  
2\. He’s funny  
3\. He’s an idiot  
4\. He’s cute without realizing it  
5\. He’s sexy without realizing it  
6\. He whines too much for his own good  
7\. Number 6 makes me want to fuck him against a wall  
8\. I have no reading on his sexuality  
I consider asking Rose about that. But she would ask why I’m asking, and she would know if I lie. Because she’s a god damn mind reader.  
I groan loudly. This is so hard.  
Ignoring the crush won’t work because of numbers 4-7. Trying to win him over might end up ruining any chances of friendship. Like, if I were to flirt too much, he might get freaked out, or if I tell him and he doesn’t feel the same way… well, yeah. It’d be bad.  
I decide not to text him or see him today. Give me some time to think. But, for now, I’ll think about something else.  
My mind drifts to Bro. The last time I saw him… Was two months ago, in January. We didn’t see each other on Christmas that year because he had some robotics convention thing in New York a few days before and he wanted to sightsee or something. So he came over and stayed a few days in January. Obviously, I acted like it was a huge inconvenience, but I really wanted him there. I think he knew that, too.  
Thinking about him makes me miss him. Which is stupid, so I stop thinking about him. But what else should I think about?  
Rose. I’ll text her.  
I grab my iPhone and open Pesterchum. Smirking, I type in her stupid name.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --

TG: sup

It takes her a while to respond.

TT: I’m in class.  
TT: Is this Dave?  
TG: yeah  
TT: Well text me later, Dave. Sorry.  
TT: My last class today ends at 4:40.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

God damn it. I could go work on beats or raps or something. But I don’t feel like it.  
Eventually, I go to my computer and start drawing. It’s about time I post another comic. I finish it in, like, 15 minutes. It takes another 5 minutes to post it. I wait around for about 15 minutes for someone to comment. A couple people do. So, there. I wasted about 35 minutes.  
I wish I had a gig today. I’ve got a rap show in 2 days. I practice my entire act twice, tweaking beats and lyrics. Then I figure it’s time to think about John.  
So I think. But my mind keeps on going over the same thing. Option One won’t work because blah. Option Two might end in blah blah blah.  
At 5:00, I text Rose.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --

TG: sup  
TT: Hello, Dave.  
TG: howd your classes go  
TT: Great.  
TT: I’ve got loads of homework but I can move things with my mind now.  
TG: cool  
TT: Maybe I’ll use my newfound power to remove your sunglasses.  
TG: youll just find another pair  
TT: I’ll just remove that pair.  
TG: nope  
TG: another one under that too  
TG: it keeps happening  
TT: Will it ever end?  
TG: who knows  
TG: no ones ever reached the end  
TG: but theres an ancient legend that states  
TG: eventually there is a pair  
TG: that isnt black  
TT: Really?  
TG: yeah  
TG: instead  
TG: its a dark gray  
TT: Wow.  
I talk to Rose for a while. John messages me at one point but I don’t reply. I like Rose. She’s pretty weird, but cool.  
\----  
Rose and Karkat are both gone when I wake up. Classes, probably. I wonder if Kanaya has classes. I really want to hang out with Dave again, but I don’t want him to think I’m clingy or anything.  
I wander around the empty apartment for a minute before deciding to make breakfast. I don’t feel like actually making anything, so I just have cereal.  
When I turn to get the milk, I see a note on the fridge in light purple ink.

John,  
You know how to contact me. Kanaya’s chumhandle is grimAuxiliatrix. She only has one class today. If you get lonely, text her. I’ll see you tonight.  
RL

I smile as I put the note back. After I finish my cereal and watch a movie on cable, I text Kanaya.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA] --

EB: hey!  
EB: it's John.  
GA: Hi John  
GA: How Are You  
EB: i’m good.  
EB: how are you?  
GA: Im Fine Thank You  
EB: are you in class right now?  
GA: No  
GA: Would You Like To Go Do Something  
EB: sure!  
GA: Alright  
GA: What Do You Want To Do  
EB: i don’t know.  
EB: we could see a movie!  
GA: Okay  
GA: What Movie  
EB: i’m not sure what’s playing.  
GA: I Suppose We Could Meet At The Theater And Then Decide  
EB: okay!  
EB: see you there.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA] –

I look up the address of the movie theater and get ready. The weather is nice today. I dress in comfy clothes, a big T-shirt, blue jeans, and a flannel.  
I lock up the apartment with the key Rose left and head out. On the way, I text Dave.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

EB: hi Dave!

He doesn’t respond, but that’s okay. Probably busy. It’s a nice day, so I enjoy the walk. I have to wait a few minutes before Kanaya arrives.  
“Hey!” I greet. She smiles at me.  
“Hello. Have you looked at the movies?”  
“No, I only got here a few minutes ago.”  
“Hm,”  
We choose a movie. It’s pretty good. Kanaya doesn’t like it, though.  
“I don’t know. I just didn’t really get it.”  
“Yeah, the writing wasn’t great, but it was sort of funny.”  
“I guess.” We pause in front of the theater. “This was fun.” She says eventually, smiling.  
“Yeah, it was.”  
“Do you want to get coffee?”  
I grin. “Sure!”  
We walk over to a little coffee shop in the same plaza as the theater. When we get our coffee, we decide to walk around for a bit.  
“It really is nice meeting you, John. I’d like to meet Rose’s other friends.”  
“Yeah. Jade wants to meet you. She always talks about how pretty you are.”  
Kanaya blushes. “Give her my thanks. I’ve heard she’s very sweet.”  
“She is, until you get on her bad side.”  
She chuckles and pauses. “I’ve been dating Rose for two years now. I’d like to meet her family, but she says she’s not ready for that.”  
“Really? Her mom’s really nice. They have this weird passive-aggressive thing, but to be honest I think it’s all in Rose’s head.”  
Kanaya laughs again. “What about you, John? What’s your dad like?”  
“He’s great. He bakes a lot. Too much, I think. He’s a prankster like my grandma.”  
“What does he do for a living?”  
“I don’t know. He’s a businessman.” Kanaya nods. “Tell me about your family.”  
She takes a deep breath. “I used to live with my mom in a little African country called Alternia. My mom’s name is Porrim. She’s cool. A little intimidating. We moved to Montana when I was twelve.”  
“I had no idea you’re from another country!”  
“I’d be surprised if you did.”  
We get to know each other better. It’s really nice. We walk and talk for a long time until Kanaya tells me she needs to go home so she can finish some homework for her special effects makeup class. We hug as a goodbye before going our separate ways.  
When I get home, Rose is there.  
“What were you up to today?”  
“I saw Kanaya.”  
“Oh, great. Are you two getting along?”  
“Yeah, she’s awesome. I approve of you dating her.”  
She smiles. “I really am glad you like her. I think I’ll ask her to celebrate Christmas with my family this year.”  
“Cool!” I sit on the couch. “Where’s Karkat?”  
“Sleeping. He has an early class tomorrow.” She turns her head to look at me. “I’ve got classes all day tomorrow, so does Karkat and Kanaya. And when I get home, I’ve got homework to do. So we can’t really hang out with you tomorrow.”  
“Okay. I’ll see if I can go to Dave’s.”  
“Great. I’m sorry, John, I know you flew all the way out here to see me. I wish I could skip my classes but I can’t.”  
“It’s okay, Rose. I’m here for two and a half weeks, we’ll find time.”  
She smiles. We end up watching a bunch of TV until she has to go to sleep. I grab a bag of chips and watch a little more TV before I go to my room.  
After I’m in my pajamas, I text Dave.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

EB: can i come over tomorrow?  
EB: everyone’s busy with college stuff.

It takes him a while to respond

TG: okay  
TG: do you need me to pick you up or can you get a cab  
EB: i’ll get a cab but I need your address.

He gives me his address

EB: well i’ll see you tomorrow!  
TG: yeah  
TG: see you

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

I fall asleep quickly.


	4. Slumber Party!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I forgot to post yesterday!!

Everyone’s gone when I wake up. I’m excited to see Dave again, so I quickly make toast and call a cab.

When I get to Dave’s apartment I knock on the door softly. When he doesn’t come, I knock louder. And then louder after that.

“Shit—okay, I’m coming!” I hear him yell from behind the door. He must have just woken up.

When he opens the door, he’s in nothing but white boxer briefs. I stare at his torso longer than I should. The arm that’s holding open the door is flexing, and the other is scratching the back of his head. Wow, he’s hot. I feel myself blush. Why would I think that? I mean, whatever, I’m not gay. It’s not that weird, is it?

“Sorry, I just woke up.” He says after too long of a silence.

“Oh—! I, uh, sorry.” I feel bad for not saying “hi,” and instead staring at him like a creep.

“It’s cool.” He moves out of the doorway. “Come in.”

He closes the door behind me.

“I’m gonna go get dressed, okay? If you're done staring, I mean.” He smirks.

My cheeks get hotter. “Yeah, please go.”

I find a spot on his couch. When he’s gone, I put my face in my hands. That was _definitely_ weird. A man should be able to be half-naked in front of his friend without said friend being a creep. Why did I get so awkward? And he totally noticed. God.

When I hear his door open I lean back against the couch and take my hands away from my face.

“Dude, you’re still blushing.” Dave points out.

I throw a pillow at him. “Shut up, Asshole.”

He throws it back at me and knocks off my glasses.

“Shit, sorry,” It’s blurry, but I see him walk over, pick my glasses up, and try to put them on me. But he keeps missing.

I reach up and put them on myself, laughing at him.

“Now that you’ve seen me without my glasses…” I reach for his sunglasses but he backs away.

“Nice try, Egbert. Not happening.”

“Whatever, Dork.”

He plops down next to me. “So, what do you want to do?”

“Umm…” I look around. “Ooh, you have Mario Kart!”

We set everything up and start playing. I chose Toad and Dave chooses Peach.

“Really?”

“Shut up, she kicks ass.”

Sure enough, he kicks my ass.

\----

Playing Mario Kart with John is like playing with a twelve year old. He turns the controller when he’s turning in the game as if it helps, he makes dumb excuses when he loses. It’s hilarious.

When I’m on a thin bridge with no borders, he shoves my arm and I fall off.

“Oh hell no,” I throw my controller on the ground and knock his out of his hands. Before he can move at all, I pin him to the couch. “Cheater.” I whisper.

He struggles until we roll off the couch and onto the ground. He’s got me pinned now, and he’s smiling triumphantly. I smile back.

“The fuck are you smiling about, Loser?” John asks.

I shrug. He stops smiling and instead puts on an exaggerated concentration face. His hands are holding mine to hold me down and his legs are straddling my hips. He slowly moves one hand towards my face.

“Fuck no.” I protest, forcefully pushing him off of me. He hits the coffee table

“Ow, you dick.”

I wait for him to get up. Once he does, I start chasing him.

He circles the couch a few times before running into my room. He jumps onto the bed and jumps off when I follow him.

He doesn’t land well. Instead, he falls on his face.

Because I’m such a good friend, I jump on top of him and hold him down instead of helping him up.

“Fuck, get off.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but seriously get off of me.”

“No, I like it too much up here.

I’m holding him down easily, pressing my entire body against his (trying not to hurt him, though). His butt and my dick are only four layers of clothing apart.

“Is that a katana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” John laughs.

“Shut up, Egbert.” I press against him harder.

“You’re so gay, Dude.”

I freeze. After a second of silence, I stand up and straighten myself out. I considered he might be straight, but… What if he’s homophobic? I don’t know what to say, so we just stand there awkwardly for a minute. He looks anxious.

“I…” He starts. “I didn’t, like if you’re gay that’s okay. Rose is gay. I’m not—I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Duh, of course he’s not homophobic. I could have figured that out.

“Phew, okay.”

We go back out to the living room. The TV screen showed both of our cars not moving. We end up just turning the game off and watching cable.

Something stupid is on, so instead of watching, I kick my legs onto the couch, lay them over John’s legs and fake sleep.

He starts moving his legs up and down. “I know you’re awake.”

“I don’t care.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I don’t care.”

“You’re a terrible host.” He pushes my legs away and gets up. I follow him.

“We can go get McDonald’s or something.” I tell him.

“Sounds good to me.”

We walk down to the parking lot and get in my truck.

“Hey,” John begins a while after I start driving. “Do you…”

He pauses for a second. When he doesn’t continue, I ask, “What?”

“Do you think I can sleep over tonight?”

I think. I’ve got a thing tomorrow at 1:00 pm and I need to practice for that. But maybe he can come? Or I can drop him off right before.

“Uh…” He looks a bit nervous. I take that in for a second before answering, “Yeah. I just have a concert at one… You can go if you want. Or I can drop you off.”

“A concert? Like, you’re going to rap?”

“Yeah. It’s a little thing where local artists audition and perform. Like high school bands and aspiring singers and shit. I know a lot of them.”

“That’s so cool! I’d love to go!”

“Alright. I have to practice before, too.”

“Okay. So I can stay?”

“Yeah,”

“Slumber Party!”

“Wow, I actually think your name’s not dorky enough for you.”

He sticks his tongue out. I smile for a second before forcing on a straight face. We roll into the drive thru and we each order our own drink, our own burger, and a large order of fries to share.

“So why do you wanna stay over?” I ask on the way back, reaching over and taking fries from the bag on John’s lap.

“No, no reason really…” He mumbles as if he’s embarrassed.

“Cool,” Is all I say.

We don’t talk for the rest of the car ride. I start to think, and that’s when I decide on Option Two. I’m going to win this boy over. I’m in deep and I don’t plan on getting out.

When we get back to my apartment, we sit on the ground so that we’re closer to the coffee table and eat. It’s 4:49 when we finish.

John sighs and lays his head on my lap. “What should we do now?”

Him laying like that makes me nervous. He makes me so nervous, and I wish he would fucking stop. This is fucking ridiculous.

“What do you want to do?” I don’t want him to be bored, but it’s not like there’s a lot to do in my apartment.

“Hm…”

\----

I’m not sure if this is okay. My head’s on Dave’s lap. Is that a thing that friends do? He practically ignores it. I consider sitting up, but that seems like it might be weirder? We’re silent for a while. Eventually, Dave hesitantly rests an arm on my stomach and taps his fingers absently. I slide my hand over his.

“You’re so comfy, Dave.” I say just to break the silence.

I’m looking up at him while he looks down. He smirks. “John Egbert thinks Dave Strider’s dick is comfy.”

I laugh and stick my tongue out.

His free hand brushes through my hair. “Shit that’s soft.” I laugh at him again.

We sit there and talk for a while. We don’t move our hands at all.

Eventually, I get up to get water and Dave moves onto the couch. I turn the TV on when I get back. I sit next to him and snuggle into his side. He puts his arm around me. I admit, this isn’t a thing guy friends usually do. But I don’t care that much. Except I do, a little bit. I like cuddling with him and everything, but I’m not gay! And this is pretty gay. I try to push those feelings aside.

I notice Dave is on his phone. I look for a second and see that he’s texting Rose, but I decide not to read what they’re saying.

“I’m tired.” I say eventually. He puts his phone down.

“Tough.”

“Daaaaaaave.”

“What?”

“Let’s go to bed.”

“Can’t you go by yourself?”

I sit up, leaving his arm. “Yeah, just don’t fucking draw on my face.”

“I won’t.”

“Where do I sleep?”

“In my room.”

“Where will you sleep?”

“Couch.”

I pause. “There’s enough room in your bed for both of us.”

He looks at me. “You… Okay. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

I nod and walk into his room. His bed really is big enough for us. But I also just like cuddling with him. In a friendly way.

I take off my pants so that I’m only in my shirt and boxers and climb into his bed. I leave my pants folded, leaning against his bed. I didn’t want to just leave them on the floor, you know?

While I’m waiting for Dave, I think about how I only met him four days ago. And now I’m cuddling with him and sleeping in his bed. That’s pretty weird. But he’s cool, and comfy, and a good cuddler. So fuck it.

Soon enough, he comes in, gets ready, and lays down.

“Hey,”

He’s lying on his side. I scoot up to him so we’re spooning. “Hey,” I whisper.

His muscles tense. I’m starting to move away when his hand falls onto my waist.

“You’re a dork.” He whispers in my ear. I shiver.

“No, you”

“Goodnight, Asshole.”

I shove my butt into him. “Nighty night.”


	5. A Surprise Guest!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh! I forgot to post yesterday! Urg, sorry. Maybe I'll post one tomorrow to make it up to you :?

I wake up before John does. I’m still spooning with him. He has a gentle smile on his face as he sleeps.

I wish I could be glad that John kept getting all close to me. But I keep remembering my conversation with Rose last night.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

TT: Dave, is John with you?

TG: yeah

TT: Okay. I just want to know where he is.

TG: i have a question

TT: What’s that?

TG: uh

TG: do you know johns sexuality

TT: I thought you might like him.

TT: I didn’t want to say anything.

TG: okay

TG: but do you know

TT: Oh, Dave.

TT: As far as I know, he’s straight.

TT: That’s what he says, anyway.

TG: oh

TT: I’m sorry, Dave.

TT: You never know, though.

TG: yeah

TT: Where is he now?

TG: hes fucking leaning against me

TG: laying his head on my shoulder and shit

TG: how can a straight guy be so damn gay

TT: Like I said, you never know.

TG: hold on

TG: he just invited me to sleep in the same bed with him

TG: the fucker is leading me on

TT: Dave, I’d like to talk to you about this in person.

TT: I have to go.

TT: Have fun sleeping with my best friend.

TG: night

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] –

So, he’s straight. He’s insistently heterosexual. So him cuddling with me doesn’t mean he likes me. It means he likes cuddling with me. And that’s okay, I guess. But it kinda sucks.

I pretend to be asleep in case John wakes up. I breath him in, pressing my face into his hair. I lightly kiss the back of his head. He doesn’t wake up.

I wish it wasn’t like this. I feel far away from him somehow. I’m too scared to even scoot closer to him. He might not be homophobic, but how would he react to me having a crush on _him?_

The hand I have resting on his waist slips just under his shirt so that I’m touching skin. He shifts his weight but doesn’t wake up.

I lie there with my eyes closed, nose and lips buried in his hair, hand on his waist, legs intertwined, and I still feel far. I wish I could kiss his neck and ears and lips and everything. But I can’t.

God, I'm so melodramatic.

I’m taking a long breath in through my nose when I hear it. The muffled sound of the TV.

“Shit,” I mutter. He’s here. Bro’s here.

I want to get up and go tell Bro that John’s here and he needs to be on his best behavior, but just moving my hand makes my arm feel cold.

I end up laying a soft kiss under his ear before standing up as quietly as I can. John squirms a bit but still doesn’t wake up. I don’t bother putting on pants before going out there.

“Bro.” I whisper harshly.

He turns the TV off and stands up.

“Sup,”

“What are you doing here?” I ask, still whispering.

“I thought, ya know, it’s been a while and I know you have a performance today, so—”

“How’d you know about that?”

“I keep tabs on when those concerts come around here.”

“You-You do? Well, really, Bro, it’s fucking great seeing you, just so wonderful, but it’s a bad time.”

“Someone’s in your bedroom?” I nod. “You got lucky? Ayy,” He puts his hand up for a high five.

I shake my head ‘no.’ He puts his hand down.

“Who is it?”

“This guy I met a few days ago. His name’s John Egbert.”

“Is he cute?”

“Yeah, very cute.”

“Can’t wait to meet him.” He sits back down on the couch, kicking his feet up. I sit next to him.

“Don’t embarrass me. Please.”

“You like him a lot?”

“Sure, yeah. Best behavior.”

“Always.” I glare at him, but he probably can’t tell.

“Apparently he’s straight.” I tell Bro, for no real reason.

“Well he hasn’t met a Strider.”

“Well, now he has.”

“How’s he acting around you?”

“He’s—well, he’s very touchy. Cuddly.”

“Strider charm. Aren’t you glad you had me to teach you?”

“Whatever, Bro.”

It’s quiet for a second.

“What have you been up to, Dave?”

“Working gigs. Meeting cute boys outside of airports. The usual. You?”

“Working on orders. Meeting no cute boys whatsoever.”

“You’re about to meet one.”

“I think I’ll look for one my baby brother isn’t pining after.”

“Good call.”

“So what’s he like?”

“He’s super dorky. Funny, a little rude sometimes but mostly nice. We get along well.”

“I’m so happy for you.”

“Okay.”

It’s quiet until John finally comes out, still only wearing a shirt and boxers, looking all disheveled.

“Well fuck me. You’re right, Dave, he is cute.” Bro says, getting up and walking slowly over to John.

“You called me cute?” John asks, blushing and smiling that smile that shows all his teeth.

Instead of answering, I put my head in my hands so I can pretend it’s not happening. Off to a bad start.

“Howdy, John, I’m Bro.”

“Wow, Nice to meet you! Dave’s told me lots.”

“I don’t talk to Dave much, but if I did I’m sure he wouldn’t shut up about you.”

I clench my jaw. This isn’t happening this isn’t happening.

John laughs. “No way!”

“Well, uh—Hold on.”

Suddenly, I feel Bro’s arm drape around my shoulders and his prickly beard scrape against the side of my face.

“What did I teach you, Dave? Sulking is weak.”

“You’re an ass.” I whisper back to him. But I still sit up.

“What time is it?” John asks.

“8:34.”

“Do you think we have time for you two to strife?” He smiles excitedly.

“I’d rather not.” I protest. I’d rather just practice for the show.

“Ah,” Bro clasps me on the shoulder, standing up. “Come on, of course there’s time! Go grab two swords.

“I’m not even wearing pants.”

“Then put your pants on, Idiot. Let’s go.”

I groan and turn towards my room. I walk like a zombie until John starts poking my back.

“Come onnn, Slowpoke!”

So I start walking faster. I close the door behind us for some reason. I get this urge to grab John and kiss him against a wall, hidden from Bro, as if it's some shitty secret relationship story.

“I like him.” John cheers, pulling his pants on.

“Great,” I sigh, opening my pants drawer and pulling out these ugly white shorts that are easy to move in.

“Did… Did you really call me cute?”

“Yes, I really called you cute.” I open my closet and pull out a plain black tank top.

“Do you _think_ I’m cute?”

“Yup.”

“Thank you.”

“Mhm,” Before putting on my pants, I take my shirt off so I’m only in my underwear. I wanted to see that dumbstruck face from John again. He doesn’t look as surprised, but he still stares a little bit. I sit on the side of my bed and begin pulling my pants on. I stretch before pulling on my shirt.

“How do I look?” I ask John.

He checks me out, as if he wasn’t just watching my get dressed. “Your hair’s pretty messy.”

“I’ll fix that after the strife.”

Neither of us say anything while I grab the swords.

“I think you’re cute too.” John says, blushing.

I smirk at him. “Thanks.”

In the elevator, Bro asks John questions about his family and whatnot.

“Who do you live with?”

“My dad and nanna.”

“Is your dad hot?”

John chuckles nervously. “I- I don’t…”

I ignore the comment until we get off the elevator, when I pull Bro back. I wait a second for John to get ahead.

“I thought we agreed you’d be on your best behavior.”

“I’m not that bad, am I?”

“Yes, you are.”

“Well, you shouldn’t let me embarrass you. You gotta be stronger than that.”

“Well I wouldn’t get embarrassed if you didn’t try to embarrass me.”

“Calm down.”

“You always do this, Bro. If I ever want a chance with him I have to take it slow.”   

“Striders aren’t known for being slow.”

“I don’t give a shit what Striders are known for.”

“Don’t say that, come on.”

“Will you just be cool?”

“Of course. Striders are known fo—yeah, I’ll be cool.”

I start walking towards the stairs. Bro catches up with me easily.

“Dave, don’t be mad at me. Please.”

I think Bro has some problems with himself. He can’t handle it when I’m mad at him for too long.

“Only if you stop being an asshole.”

“Deal.”

When we get to the roof, John’s admiring the view again. When the door shuts, he turns around.

“Finally! What took you guys so long?”

Neither of us answer. I give Bro a sword and we get ready. John sits on the floor facing us.

I’m the first to make a move, and he deflects it. Soon we’re jumping, running, clinking swords, dodging, and pushing each other around the roof. At one point, a purple smuppet hits my face.

“Where did this even come from?” I yell, kicking it towards John. Bro chuckles.

After a while, Bro knocks me to the ground and points his sword at my neck. John starts clapping.

Bro helps me up. “Good job.”

“You too.”

“That was so awesome! How do you do that?” John cheers. Bro and I shrug.  “So this is a smuppet?” He holds up the purple rubbery demon.

“Yup,” Bro takes it from him. “I always keep one with me, especially when I go see Dave.”

“But where were you keeping it?”

“In my pants, duh.”

\----

Striders are weird.

Bro makes a lot of inappropriate comments! I don’t know what to think about them. I think Dave’s really nervous. I guess I should talk to him and tell him everything’s good. But I feel sort of awkward being alone with him…

It’s not like he did anything wrong. I just had a dream about him last night, and I have no idea why!

I totally _don’t_ like him. This stuff happens, you know? People have weird dreams about people they know. But that doesn’t really make it less awkward.

I think it’s because we were cuddling. Dreams don’t even mean anything, they’re usually random. But I’m still nervous about it for some reason.

The dream went like this:

Dave was sitting on his couch. The TV wasn’t on, or maybe it was, I don’t remember. I sat sideways on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. One of his arms draped over my back while he ran his free hand up and down my legs.

I kissed him, trying to get as close to him as possible. His hand moved from my legs to the back of my head and ruffled my hair. My lips left his and instead I left kisses on his cheeks and nose. I remember he kept whispering things to me but I don’t remember what he said.

All of a sudden we were in his room. We took each other’s shirts off and he pushed me against a wall. He kissed my lips once before moving down to my neck, kissing and licking and whispering against my skin. His hands we holding my hips. One of mine tangled in his hair while the other ran down his back.

Somehow I got him onto the bed. I kissed his chest and stomach and nuzzled my nose into his happy trail. I woke up just as I unbuttoned his pants.

I remember how real it felt. I remember how his body felt, how his lips felt. I remember that it felt _good._

But it was only a dream. It wasn’t real.

“John, hey,” Dave snaps his fingers in front of my face.

“Oh man, I was just spacing out.” I say, blinking my eyes.

“Yeah, we could tell. Come on, we’re going downstairs.”

I follow them down the stairs and to the elevator.

“Where do you live, John?” Bro asks politely.

“Washington.”

“Wait, like, the state?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. I thought you probably lived around here.”

“No, I’m just visiting a friend. She goes to college here.”

“Did you ever go to college?”

“No, but I want to.”

“Dave doesn’t want to. I think that’s stupid, but I’m not gonna force him.”

“Jeez, Bro, get off my ass about that.” Dave groans.

“Did you go to college?” I ask Bro.

“Yeah, for robotics.”

“That’s so cool! So you build robots for a living?”

“Yup.”

“Sweet!”

When we’re back in the apartment, Dave says he’s gonna go shower. He whispers something to Bro before going into the bathroom.

“So why do you go by ‘Bro’?”

“Cause its awesome.”

I nod. It’s awkward when we don’t talk. Maybe just for me, because he seems pretty comfortable.

I wish I brought a change of clothes. I hope I don’t smell bad. I also wish that I wore something cooler. I’m going to be going to a cool underground concert wearing pale blue semi-skinny jeans and a blue shirt with a weird windy design on it.

Bro speaks eventually, “How long are you staying, John?”

“I’m leaving in two weeks.”

“You enjoying it here so far?”

“Mhm! It’s really hot though.”

“Yeah. I’ve been to Washington, its way colder.” He pauses. “How’d you meet Dave?”

“I, uh… I thought he was someone else.”

“What’d you do?”

“I hugged him.”

“Classic.”

It’s quiet for a minute until Dave walks out.

He’s wearing a towel around his hips. His hair is dripping wet. I stare at him as he crosses the hall into his room.

Bro coughs. “Perv,”

“What! I am not!”

He chuckles. “I was just kidding, man.”

Feeling embarrassed, I take out my phone and text Rose.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] –

EB: hey Rose!

TT: Hi, John.

TT: Did you spend the night at Dave’s house?

EB: yeah.

TT: Alright.

TT: I was up doing homework until midnight last night.

TT: It was smart of you to stay over.

EB: haha.

EB: well im probably going to be here for a while today.

EB: daves got a concert today.

TT: When is it?

EB: 1:00 pm

TT: I wish I could go.

TT: Tell me if he does well.

EB: i will.

TT: How was your day yesterday?

EB: it was awesome!

EB: how were your classes?

TT: They were good.

TT: I’ve got a big test coming up.

EB: bummer.

TT: It should be easy.

TT: I’m glad you had a nice night.

EB: daves brother is here!

TT: Really?

TT: Is he nice?

EB: i guess.

EB: he’s pretty inappropriate.

TT: Is that not what you expected?

EB: haha i guess it is.

TT: Tell him I say hello.

EB: sure thing.

TT: Unless you have something you want to talk to me about I’m going to go now.

TT: I’d like to study a bit before my next class.

EB: okay.

TT: Will I see you later?

EB: probably!

TT: Okay. Have fun at the concert.

EB: bye Rose!

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] –

“My friend Rose says ‘Hi,’” I tell Bro after I put my phone away.

“Hello, Rose.” Bro replies.

It doesn’t take long after that for Dave to come out. He’s wearing black skinny jeans and a white baseball shirt with red sleeves and a broken record symbol in front.

He stops in the middle of the thin hallway. “Do I look okay?”

I nod and Bro whistles at him.

“I’m gonna go do my hair.”

“I’m going to follow you!” I say, getting up. I close the door behind me when I get into the bathroom.

Dave stands in front of the sink. “What brings you here?”

“It’s just a little awkward out there. I mean, your brothers really cool but there’s a lot of awkward silences.” I close the lid to the toilet and sit on it.

“I see.” He gets his hands wet and starts running them through his hair, trying out different styles. “Sorry. I would’ve told you he was gonna be here if I knew.”

“It’s fine! I’m glad to meet him. You don’t have to be so nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“You totally are.”

“I’m totally not.”

I watch his hands move as he styles his hair.

“How can you style your hair with sunglasses on?”

“That’s how I usually style my hair.”

He sprays a bunch of hairspray over his hair when he’s finished. He gives it a final look-over before turning to me.

“Hey, Dave, do you think I’m cool enough for the concert?”

“Are you kidding? You’ll be the coolest guy there.”

“No, really. These clothes aren’t cool. At all. Plus, they’re a day old.”

“I think you look great, dude, but if you want, you can borrow my clothes.”

I get up and look at myself in the mirror. “Your clothes won’t fit me.”

“How do you know?”

“You’re taller and skinnier than me.” I pick up his brush and try to tame my hair. But no, it stays pretty much the same.

Dave ruffles my hair. “Don’t worry, they’ll love your hair.” He makes me face him. “Just put deodorant on. You look great, you really do.”

“Thanks.” I mutter, reaching for his deodorant.

He starts walking out as I put it on. I get my hair wet and play with it for a few minutes before going into the living room.

Dave and Bro are sitting on the couch. Dave’s holding a bottle of apple juice.

“Well, if yall don’t mind, I’m going to go practice.” Dave announces, standing up.

“Can I watch?” I entreat.

“Uh… Sure. Okay.”

I follow him into his room. He shakes his arms a few times and clears his throat.

“Will you help me, actually?” I nod. “Just read my lyrics as I rap, tell me if I miss anything.”

“Okay!” He hands me four pieces of paper scratched with sloppy writing, crossed out sentences and notes on the side. “How am I supposed to read this!”

“Just do your best, Egbert. And tell me if you think I should change anything.”

“Alright, Dave, go ahead!”

He plugs his phone into his speakers and starts a beat. He clears his throat again before he starts.

I don’t exactly follow what he’s saying while he raps, because he’s so fast. But I try to read as fast as I can. I do register some puns, which make me smile. The same happens with the other songs. The beats change and the words change but I still have trouble seeing the overall message of the songs.

But he’s very good. Like, so good. He’s on time with the beat, he’s got good energy, and his writing makes sense. Like, his puns work and his rhymes add to the beat, ya know?

When he finishes his fourth song, he unplugs his phone and takes a sip of his apple juice.

“What’d ya think?”

“I think that you’re amazing! You wrote all that yourself?”

“Yup,”

“Wow, that’s awesome. You sound great!”

“Thanks,”

“What are you gonna say on stage?”

“What?”

“You can’t just go up there and immediately start performing. You have to say _something_.”

“I… usually don’t.”

“Well, I think you should! Especially if people like you. They’ll love hearing you talk.”

“Well I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say, like, ‘Hey, how are you guys feeling, it’s good to be here, I hope you like it,’ that kind of thing.”

“That’s so impersonal.”

“Most people don’t care. But you could talk about yourself, I’m sure your fans will enjoy it.”

“You’re acting like I have a huge fanbase. It’s not even _my_ concert. I’m sharing it with twenty other people.”

“Well, I don’t know. I just think you should say something.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to be an actual rapper? Like, with your own concerts and CDs and stuff?”

“Sorta. I kind of like where I am in the rap game. I get tips and stuff, people around here know me. I don’t really need a bunch of press or whatever.” He sits on his bed next to me.

“Have you ever thought about recording CDs?”

“Yeah, I’d love to, but that shit’s expensive if you’re not signed with a record company. Which I’m not.”

“How is it expensive?”

“You either need to buy your own recording equipment and set up a sound room and shit, or you can pay someone else to let you use their equipment.”

“Aw. I’d like to have one of your CDs for when I go back to Washington.”

Dave looks at me with a straight face. “Really?”

“Yeah!”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

I give him a wide smile. He smiles at me for a second before letting his face fall.

“Dork,” I call him.

He pushes me back so I’m lying on the bed. He jumps onto the bed, landing on his stomach with his head right next to mine.

“It’s funny how you think you can call people dorks. You’re actually the dorkiest person I’ve ever met.”

“Shut up, I’m not dorky.”

“Hey man, aint no shame in being a dork.”

“Yeah, but I’m not!”

“If you say so,”

I look at his alarm clock and see that it’s 11:03. It’s quiet for a while. I start to feel really tired…

“We should get coffee.” Dave suggests.

“Yeah.”

“Does Rose know you’re here?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just making sure she’s not flipping out.”

“Hm. Dave, you should meet Karkat.”

“Who’s that?”

“Rose’s roommate.”

“Why should I meet him?”

“Oh, because, he’s so chill. Just like you. He never even yells.” I try not to giggle.

“Alright,”

The Prankster Gambit scale ticks in my favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just putting this out there: I love comments a lot. I also love the thought of you hot shots telling your friends about my fic. And since I just know youre all a bunch of lovely little people pleasers, you know what to do.  
> Haha. really though, it'd be so appreciated if you shared this fic.  
> My tumblr is wanderingwitchoftime.tumblr.com so if u wanna hmu that would be the place. 
> 
> <3 !!


	6. “If you see him, ruffle his hair for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post an early chapter because I feel bad for forgetting on wednesday n_n whoop cameos!

In the car, I get stuck in the back.  But it’s okay, because I pre-call shotgun for on the way back.

Dave starts explaining the plan in the car. “So, people who arrive with a performer or pay extra get to stand in this roped of area in the front. You can hang with me backstage for a while if you want, but the roped area gets packed sometimes so if you want to get in the very front you should probably just go right over there. Or maybe Bro can save yall a spot and John can stick with me. I’ll point out who I like and whatever. It’s a stand up thing, obviously, so be ready to stand for a while. If you get super tired, you can go to the way back, behind everyone who’s standing, and sit on the field whenever you want. But you should at least wait until I go on.”

“Well, duh.” I smile. I’m so excited!

“Yeah. It starts at 2:00. I have to be backstage the entire time, even after I’m done. I’ve gotta sign in and get you guys special name tag things that pretty much say ‘I can be at the front.’ I’m, like, the 5th act. I’m not sure what number but I’m right after this singer named Calliope. She’s cool, I’ll introduce you. Right after me is a band called the Midnight Crew. They’re all old timey and shit. They play okay, but they’re all douchebags in real life.”

“Alright, dude, it’s not that complicated.” Bro groans.

It takes, like, 40 minutes to get there. Bro asks me basic questions.

“Got any siblings?”

“Nope.”

"Friends?"

"Yeah, my best friends are Rose and Jade, but I've got some others."

“Jade, huh? What’s she like?”

“She’s great. She just got into college.”

“Good for her.”

It’s sort of boring. Dave doesn’t say much, and I start mentally willing him to say something. It’s like, Bro’s thirty or something, and he’s asking me all these questions, like an uncle at a family reunion. And it’s pretty uncomfortable.

But the car ride seems to go by pretty fast. We’re some of the first people there, at like 12:20.

“Why did we come so early?” Bro complains as we get out.

“I thought it would take longer to get here.” Dave explains.

We start walking over to the big stage in the middle of a huge field of dead grass. It’s, like, really hot. I just really want to sit down by the time we reach the little table where Dave has to sign in. No one’s in line but there are a few people already waiting backstage.

Bro and I stand off to the side while Dave chit chats with the person at the table. I feel cool just being here! I mean, it’s gonna be filled with all these hipsters and cool people with cool friends who perform at cool concerts. Wow, look at me, yeah I’m into these underground artists, I know one of them, oh yeah.

Eventually, Dave comes over and hands both of us nametags. On mine, he wrote “Egderp.”

“You’re an ass.” I tell him as I put it on. Bro looks at the name tag and chuckles.

We end up sitting on the side of the stage until more people start showing up. At that point, Bro went to the roped off area to save us a spot at the front.

After another minute or so, Dave grabs my hand and leads me backstage.

“Alright, now that the performers are showing up I can show you some people.”

He doesn’t let my hand go immediately. He’s looking around, probably for someone to introduce me to, when a girl walks up to us.

“HEY DAVE! Who’s this??” She has a huge smile. Her hair is just past her shoulders and curves out at the bottom. It’s unevenly dyed with bright orange, yellow, and pink colors. She has red glasses on and holds a cane.

Dave turns his head to look at her, and then drops my hand to hug her.

“Hey, Terezi, this is John. John, this is Terezi.”

We shake hands.

“Terezi performs with her sister, Vriska. She plays tambourine and Vris plays guitar.”

“When are you on?” I ask.

“I’m the first one!” She replies. She’s very loud!

“Oh, there’s Calliope.” Dave points out.

“I’m going to go talk to Aradia! Smell ya later,” She turns around and starts tapping her cane in front of her as she walks.

“Is she blind?” I whisper-ask Dave.

He nods. He slips his hand into mine again and leads me over to a very small Asian girl with white, wavy hair that falls just below her ears. Her eyes are the same bright green as Jade’s.

“Hi, Dave,” She smiles sweetly.

Dave drapes an arm over her shoulders and pulls her closer to him.

“Calliope, this is John. Let me tell you, John, Calliope is the sweetest girl in the world. The light of my life.”

“Oh, stop it.” She smiles at the floor. “Nice to meet you, John.” She sticks her hand out and makes eye contact with me. I can’t help but smile.

“Hi!”

“So, John, why haven’t I heard of you?”

“We only met 5 days ago.” Dave answers, smiling down at her. I realize he’s been smiling a very small smile the entire time we’ve been with her. Which, needless to say, does not make me jealous. At all.

We talk for a long time. Calliope is really nice. Dave makes me tell the story of how we met, which makes Calliope giggle. Dave calls her Callie. We talk about her singing, and Dave tells me she draws and that she’s really good. He shows me some of her drawings that he has saved on his phone. She asks about my life in Washington. A few other performers come and go, talking with us for a minute or so each. I’m disappointed when I have to leave backstage. I hug Calliope and Dave and wish them both luck before turning to go find Bro.

Sure enough, the roped off area is packed. There’s just enough room for me to squeeze in. I’m right next to a dark skinned girl with big purple lips, short messy hair with two very long, thin braids extending out from either side, and a round face with a few well-placed piercings. She’s wearing 50s style, magenta-rimmed glasses, a black, loose crop top with sleeves that end right above her elbows, and plain black leggings. She stands with confidence. Wow, she’s gorgeous, I think.

She turns to me. “Who are you here for?” Her voice is low for a girl, and very smooth.

“Uh—Dave Strider.”

“Hm. He’s pretty cool. I’ve seen him on youtube.”

“Yeah, um, what about you?”

“I’m here with my little sister. She’s got a friend in the show, so I bought her these special tickets and decided I’d come too. Plus, my best friend’s sister is performing.”

“Who’s the friend?”

“Hold on. Hey, Feferi, what’s your friend’s name?”

A girl, I assume Feferi, turns around, her crazy long and crazy curly hair bouncing and hitting someone behind her in the face. She has magenta rimmed glasses, too, but rounder than her sister’s. She’s wearing a black halter top with a gold collar, tucked into a blue and green skirt. Her full lips are colored blight pink. She looks a lot like her sister.

“Aradia! Why?” Her voice is surprising high and bubbly, a stark contrast to her sister’s.

“This dude asked.”

I wave and smile at Feferi. She smiles back.

“I’m Meenah, by the way.” The older sister says.

“John,” I tell her.

“So do you know Dave, or?” Meenah asks.

“Yeah, we’re bros.”

“No way! Dave doesn’t have friends outside of the circle of performers.” Feferi muses.

“Well, I just met Dave 5 days ago…” That can’t be right. He’s so cool, cool people have friends.

“Oh, okay!”

I look away from them, instead directing my attention over to Bro.

“Does Dave have friends?”

“He has Terezi and Calliope.” He answers easily. I guess he anticipated my question.

“How often does he see them?”

Dirk sighs and takes his triangular shades off, folding them and tucking them into his collar.

“Whenever there’s an open concert… I think he saw Terezi on her birthday once.”

I stare at the ground. “Hm… Why is that? Why doesn’t he have friends?”

“He doesn’t try to make friends or hang out with the ones he has. He prefers staying at home, alone.”

“Oh…” Have I been annoying him? I have been sort of clingy! I mean, I asked to come over, then I asked to sleep over, then I asked to go to his concert… And I’ve been trying to cuddle with him a lot… Oh man, I’ve totally been annoying him!

It seems like it takes a million years for the concert to start. It starts with a woman, mid 20s probably, skate boarding on stage.

She looks like Terezi, I note. She’s wearing rectangular red glasses, a teal sweater dress with a turtle neck and black sleeves, and black tights. Her hair’s straight, long, and orange.

“Hey people!! How ya feeling!” Everyone claps and yells. “Woo! Same here! Hope yall are ready because we’re not waiting any longer. My name’s Latula Pyrope, and I will be your MC this evening. You’ll see me after every performance, so let’s get to know each other a bit. Clap if it’s your first time here!”

I clap along with some other people, but it sounds like less than half of the crowd. Latula keeps asking things like that and interacting for a while before introducing the first act.

“This first performance is special, alright. My two baby sisters, Terezi Pyrope and Vriska Serket, half-sister, different name, you get it. Anyway, they’re performing a few songs on a guitar and tambourine. Give it up!”

Terezi and Vriska do really good. Vriska brings out an electric guitar, hooked up to speakers. Terezi sets up her microphone so that it’s right next to her tambourine. Vriska sings a little bit, but I can barely hear her over the guitar. The speakers are super loud. I almost wave at Terezi before I realize that she wouldn’t know.

It takes another forever for Calliope to go on. She’s wearing a really nice green gown that she wasn’t wearing earlier. She does well, but I’m mainly just excited for Dave to go up. My back already hurts from standing up for so long!

I do wave at Calliope. Latula comes out right as she’s leaving.

“You guys, if you don’t know Calliope, you’re missing out. And if you’ve never heard of the Striders, well… I suggest you run while you still can. I know I’m obsessed with this crazy family. Who else?” I’m surprised at how much applause there is. I look over at Bro to see he’s smirking. “Without further ado, the famous Dave Strider, performing a few original raps.” She runs of, high-fiving Dave as he passes her.

Dave clears his throat before saying. “Uh, hey, everybody,” There’s a lot of applause. “Yeah, yeah, okay, thanks. So how’s it going?” I realize that this is probably the first time he’s talked at one of these. People scream in reply. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t prepare a speech… I’m usually the quiet type, but a little birdy told me you might like to hear me talk?” More screaming. “This little birdy’s name is John Egderp. He’s right there in front, crazy hair, big glasses, he’s laughing like an idiot… Yeah, that one. Pretty cute, huh?” A few of the people near me laugh and clap. I start to blush. “If you see him, ruffle his hair for me.” All of a sudden, I feel, like, 5 hands on my head. I glare up at Dave. “Alright, that’s it. I’ll quit boring you now.” He clears his throat and signals someone backstage. A beat starts, and he shakes out his arms and takes a deep breath.

He adds something to each of the raps that he didn’t do earlier: a chorus. A small part where he sings instead of raps. His singing voice is really nice!! His Texas accent comes out more when he sings. He sounds a lot like Bro.

I clap and shout louder for him than I did for everyone else. He nods at me, at least I think it was at me, in the middle of one of the songs. I can’t stop smiling and biting my lip and standing on my tip toes! He’s just so good. When he finishes his last song, I clap and shout my loudest. He stays around, nodding at various areas in the audience until the crowd quiets down.

“Thanks, hope you liked it. Hey John, howya doin down there?”

It’s silent until I realize that I’m supposed to talk. “I’m doing great!” I yell, but I doubt many people could hear.

Dave waves at the crowd one more time before leaving the stage, high-fiving Latula again.

After Dave’s off the stage, Bro and I duck under the rope and make our way past the crowd and sit on the field.

“You enjoying the show?” Bro asks politely. It’s easier to talk out here, far away from the speakers.

“Yeah, everyone’s doing really well.”

“You actually got my brother to talk on stage. He usually doesn’t even say ‘thank you.’”

“Well have you ever _tried_?”

“Yeah, I have.” He pauses. “I’m a little jealous, he’s never talked about me on stage.”

“There’s always next time.”

There’s another pause as we listen to the Midnight Crew perform.

“Thanks for, like, hanging with him.” Bro mutters. I look at him, confused. “I mean, I- I worry about him. He barely talks to people. He thinks people wont like him if they see him too much. Cause, ya know, they might get tired of him. That’s what he says. I wish he’d stop being so damn afraid of that.”

I don’t really know what to say. I never even considered Dave being antisocial. We talk so easily! And he never seems nervous or anxious. He’s such a cool guy, I can’t imagine ever getting tired of him.

“Well, it’s no problem. My pleasure.” I reply eventually.

There’s tension after that. Neither of us talk for a really long time. It’s not until, like, the 14th performer (I’ve lost count) that I start getting bored. I go on my phone for a while, aimlessly swiping through my pictures. Once it’s around number 17, I groan loudly, to which Bro replies, “Same.”

“Do these always get this boring?”

“Yeah. I mean, sometimes Dave’s closer to the end, but a lot of the artists are just not interesting. Especially when they cover those overdone songs. Like Wonderwall, Let It Go, Creep…”

“How often do you go to these?”

“I try to go to all of ‘em. Sometimes I don’t even tell Dave, I just drive over here, buy a ticket, watch until he’s on, and leave.”

“Wow,” Is the only thing I can think of.

Bro rolls onto his back. “What time is it?”

“4:03.”

“Dang, I’m hungry.”

“Me too.”

Latula comes out.

“Hey Everyone! Hang in there, we’ve just got one more performer. Remember, programs can be found at the snack bar with information on all the artists. This is the last time I’ll see you tonight. I hope you’ve had a wonderful time! Next up is the orchestra at our local Community College! They call themselves The Felt, Give it up!”

A bunch of people carrying instruments walk out wearing obnoxiously bright green outfits that remind me of that jacket I tried on at Thrift Town walk on stage. I smile at the memory.

“They suck.” Bro warns.

They do. But they only play two songs, so soon enough, all the performers are coming out to meet with whoever, say hi to fans, blah blah blah. Bro and I stand up to meet Dave in the middle. He gets stopped by fans a few times. He gives a few autographs.

When we’re finally together, I hug him. “You did great!” I say into his ear.

“Thanks,” He whispers back. His warm breath makes me shiver.

I lower my voice, matching his whisper. “I can’t believe you told everyone to ruffle my hair.”

“I thought they deserved the experience.”

“If you two want to be alone, you can just ask.” Bro chuckles.

I lean back, but leave my arms wrapped around his neck while his stay wrapped around my waist. We look at each other for a second before I start laughing and let him go.

While we walk, a few people come up to us. A couple ruffle my hair. Most just compliment Dave.

I climb into the front seat of Dave’s truck. Once Dave gets onto the main road, I start talking.

“You’re a good hugger, Dave.”

“Thanks.” He smiles just the slightest bit. When I talk to someone, I usually try to watch their eyes. But his are always covered, so I’ve started focusing on his lips instead.

“How’d I do?” I ask.

“Alright. Needs some work.”

I hit his arm playfully.

“Hey! Hey—No punching the driver.”

“Whatever, Dork.”

When we get home, the Striders hang back to talk while I walk ahead toward the elevator. I wait for them before I click the button.

Soon, we’re back in Dave’s apartment and I plop onto the couch. Dave sits right next to me and stretches his arm over the back of the couch. I lean on him. Bro takes a seat at the end of the couch, sitting against the arm rest, facing us.

“We should play Truth or Dare.” Bro suggests, a vague smile on his face.

“No, dude, that game’s dead.” Dave rejects.

“Not if you play with me.”

I roll my eyes. I haven’t played Truth or Dare since middle school!

“Truth or dare?” Bro purrs, low and smooth.

Dave swings his head to look at Bro. Somehow, his head swing is filled with all the sass his expression lacks. “Dare.”

“I dare you two to kiss.”

I don’t know how to react, but Dave does fine by himself.

“What? That’s some third grade shit.”

“But you won’t do it, will you?”

There’s a pause before Dave looks at me. “John?”

His use of my first name catches my attention. “Uh…” It’s just a dare, I mean, no big deal, right? “Sure, okay.”

I close my eyes and stick my lips out.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Bro spits. I open my eyes. “We’re not in kindergarten, and that’s not how adults kiss.”

“Jeez, what do you want me to do?”

“Have you never kissed anyone before?” Dave sneers.

“Yes, I have!”

“Prove it, Big Shot.” Bro smirks, crossing his arms.

Awkwardly, Dave and I turn our bodies towards each other. I swing my legs over his and scoot closer to him. One of his arms wraps around my back while his other hand rests on my knee. I don’t know where to place my hands… I end up placing one arm over his shoulders and the other on his cheek, turning him to face me. Our position is similar to how we were in my dream, but I push that thought away because it makes me nervous. I look down at his lips and take a small breath before leaning in…

I pretend I’m kissing someone else, and that works. Dave’s actually a really good kisser. I hope I’m not too bad. Our lips move against each other, our mouths are open slightly. I think I feel Dave’s tongue on my upper lip for a second, and then it’s gone.  My overbite clinks his front teeth at one point, and I feel his smile. I smile in response. I don’t know how long the kiss lasts, but it was probably longer than it need to be.

I’m the one to break the kiss. I lean back and my hand falls from his face but other than that our position doesn’t change. If there’s one thing that irritates me about Dave, it’s not the glasses. It’s the way he hides his emotions! His lips are always slack, blank, no emotion. I search his face for any kind of feeling, but there’s nothing. And that somehow makes me mad at him, so I scoot away and sit at the very end of the couch.

\----

Shit??

So I just kissed John, right, and that’s cool.

But then he scoots all the way to the end of the couch? What’s that about? Is he uncomfortable around me now? I wish I could ask. I wish I could react. I wish I could just erase the distance between us.

But instead I just glance over at him behind my glasses. He looks irritated, but not uncomfortable. I don’t know why he’d be irritated… I knit my eyebrows together, a little concerned.

“John,” Bro starts eventually. “Truth or dare.”

John rolls his eyes. “Truth.”

“Is Dave a good kisser?”

I give Bro a look before turning to look at John. He’s blushing and biting his lip. I wait for him to speak.

When he remains silent, I ask, “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“No—no,” He stammers. I continue staring at him. “He’s—Dave is a very good kisser.” He mumbles eventually. I smirk at him.

“Well, Dave, is John any good?” Bro is enjoying himself way too much.

Still staring at John, I allow myself to smile. “He’s terrific.”

John’s cheeks grow redder. My smile widens.

He covers his face with his hands. I scoot closer to him and pull him so that he’s leaning on me. “Shh, it’s okay.” I whisper, still smiling.

He moves his hands and scoots closer to me so he can sit more upright. I leave my arm wrapped around his shoulder.

We just talk normally for a while before Bro says he better go. I fist bump him before he leaves.

Maybe ten minutes after Bro leaves, John says, “Actually, I should probably get back to Rose’s apartment soon.”

I’m disappointed, but I get it. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Bluh. You should move into Rose’s apartment building.”

“I would but it looks expensive as shit.”

“Just get a roommate.”

“I don’t play well with others.”                                                                             

“You play fine with me!”

“Well, if you’re ever looking for a roommate, give me a call.”

He sticks his tongue out. I copy him. He laughs.

“I’ll text Rose.” He says when he’s done laughing. I nod.

He texts back and forth with her for a while, gently smiling, before putting his phone away.

“I’ll give you a ride if you want,” I tell him. I actually want to.

“Yeah, cool! Maybe you can come up and meet Karkat.”

“Cool,”

I grab a bottle of apple juice before we walk out.

“I don’t like apple juice.” John states in the elevator.

“More for me then.” I take a sip. John laughs at me.

In the car, we listen to the radio until John turns it down.

“Did you know… that I play the piano?”

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

“Dude, that’s awesome.”

“Haha, thanks.”

“I want to hear you play.”

“Well, I don’t have a piano with me.”

“We could go to a music store.”

“I’m not _that_ good.”

“That’s what they all say.”

He smiles and looks away. I smile at him for a second. He’s just so dang cute.

When I park, he texts Rose to ask if I can come up. She says yes, and we make our way to her apartment.

Karkat gets the door.

“Who’s this douchebag?”

“Hey,” I nod at him.

“This is Dave!”

Karkat looks back and forth between John and me.

“I thought you said he’s cute.”

I raise my eyebrows and give John a questioning look. John’s mouth opens and closes as he stammers. After a few seconds, he raises his index finger as a “one second,” and pulls Karkat to the other side of the room by his arm. I close the front door and lean against it.

It’s obvious that John’s trying to whisper, but I can hear him perfectly.

“You really don’t think he’s cute?”

“Eh, he’s okay.”

“Okay?”

“He’s like a 6.”

“I’m offended.” I call to them sarcastically.

“Well, it’s a good thing no one gives a shit.”

“Ouch,”

“Jeez, you guys.” John says, chuckling nervously.

Rose walks out of the hallway.

“Hello, Dave!” She smiles. “John, I ran by Stater Brothers and got Con Air from Redbox.”

“Sweet!”

“You don’t actually like that movie, do you?” I snort.

“Hell yes. Nic Cage is the coolest.”

Karkat makes a “pshh” sound.

“You’re shitting me.”

“Dave, be nice. It’s his favorite movie.” Rose chimes.

I smile the slightest bit in amusement. “Wow.”

“Shut up, Dave, it’s awesome.”

“Wanna watch?” Rose asks.

I mull it over for a moment, and in no time I’m sharing a blanket and popcorn with John while Rose does homework on the floor.

The movie’s not even that bad. It’s just a movie, it’s okay.

When we finish the popcorn, John puts the bowl on the coffee table and leans on me, pushing me toward the arm rest. I rest my arm over his back. Rose glances as me and gives me a smile. I raise my eyebrows in reply and she looks away.

 

Somehow, John ends up on the edge of the couch, watching intently. I lean casually against the back cushions.

“Put the bunny back in the box.”

John smiles widely and puts his hand up for a high five. Laughing at him, I fist bump his palm.

When the song at the end starts to play, I hear John quietly mumbling the words. I look over and see that he’s crying a little bit. I consider making fun of him, but instead I smile and try to take in all the cute.

Rose finishes her homework by the time the movie’s over.

“It’s been fun having you over.” Rose says, standing up from the couch.

“Yeah, thanks for having me.” I stand.

“We’ll have to hang out again soon. Maybe you can meet my girlfriend next time.”

“I’d love to.”

She smiles.I nod.

I hug John and Rose before I leave. Karkat comes out to say goodbye.

I drive home alone in silence, music off. It’s late. Outside the car it’s dark, quiet, and cold. I’m alone so often at night, or even during the day, but now I feel lonely. I squeeze my steering wheel but leave the music off, because night is more beautiful in silence. Or, at least, more poetic.

I go straight to bed when I get home. But then I get up, turn on the heat, and lay back down. I think about John and Rose, and the possibility of becoming close to them. I mean, I guess I’m already close to John. But he’ll be gone in two weeks.

Friends are cool. It’s cool to be invited places, to joke around with cool people, all that stupid shit. But it’s scary. I haven’t had a real friend since sophomore year.

I know Bro wants me to make more friends. I guess I should try.

But then, there’s the fact that being _friends_ with John sort of sucks. There’s like a 3% chance that he likes me, at most. It’s not his fault, obviously. It just sucks. I guess I’ll get over him eventually, but what if he gets weird about it? Starts avoiding me and shit. That would suck more.

But he’s going to leave. He’s going to go back to Washington in 2 weeks. How could he avoid me if he’s already 2,000 miles away?

That’s it. I’ll make my move right before he leaves. Maybe I’ll drive him to the airport.

I mentally high five myself for that idea. I fall asleep considering all the ways I could let him know how I feel.


	7. “You look ugly from this angle.”

I wake up too early and try to go back to sleep. But I can’t, so I groan as loud as I can for as long as I can.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, EGBERT.” I hear Karkat yell from across the hall. I laugh at him.

Finally, I unpack my laptop. It’s amazing how I’ve gotten through 5 days without it! I just really don’t want to put pants on right now, so I’ll lay in bed moving only my fingers for a while.

I casually surf the web, scrolling down site after site, never staying on one for too long. I look at some SBAHJ comics. Where does he even come up with this stuff? So weird.

I get bored of the internet easily, so soon enough, I groan again. I wait for Karkat’s voice, screaming over me. It doesn’t come, so I groan again. I groan until he throws open my door.

“Get out of bed, Asshole, and close your squawk gaper.”

I hum loudly, but I get up before he can open his mouth.

“Put your pants on, shitface, no one wants to see that.”

I grab a pair of shorts from my suitcase and pull them on.

Karkat waits by the door until I walk out with him.

“For some reason, Kanaya wants to meet Shades. She’s not thinking straight if you ask me. All he is is a giant douche bag.”

I laugh and shove him with my arm. “Oh, Karkat. You’re so grumpy.”

“Fuck you.”

Kanaya and Rose are sitting together on the couch.

“You should have invited me last night. I’ve never seen Con Air.” Kanaya says once I sit down.

“Oh, man, I totally should have!”

“We were talking about Dave…” Rose looks at Kanaya and they smile as if they’re hiding something.

“What about him?” I ask warily.

“I just really want to meet him. He sounds great.”

“He is!”

Karkat grumbles something, but I can’t understand him.

“I might message him soon…” Rose begins. “But I don’t know where to go.”

“There’s a good bar a few miles away.” Karkat suggests.

“I’m only 20.” I say. I’m younger than all my friends.

“When’s your birthday?

“April 13th.”

“They’ll let you in, but they won’t let you drink.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Okay, I guess, as long as I don’t get caught!”

“You won’t, trust me.”

“Do we want to go to a bar?” Rose asks.

“I do.” Karkat says gloomily.

“It could be fun.” Kanaya chimes.

Rose shrugs. “I’ll ask Dave.”

I don’t really want to go to a bar. I’ve never been to one, but they seem pretty lame if you can’t drink. But if everyone’s gonna be there, why not?

I check the time. It’s only 7:45. I groan.

“It’s so early. You can’t drink this early.”

“But I can ask this early.”

“He wont be up.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

I end up going back to bed and just resting under the covers with the ceiling fan turned on its highest setting. I think I must have slept at some point, because it seemed like I was only there for a half hour at most when I was interrupted.

“Hey, Little Guy.”

I force a noise from my mouth, part hum part groan.

“It’s 2:11.”

“Hm?”

I don’t open my eyes or move at all. I don’t think about who’s talking to me or what they’re saying…

Until I feel the bed shake violently and someone’s hands fall on my arm.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

“More like Beast.” Someone says from the doorway.

I groan loudly, but roll onto my back and open my eyes to see Dave leaning over me.

“Sup,” He says.

“The hell are you doing here?”

“I came to pick your ass up. We’re going drinking.”

“But—But I’m 20.”

My stomach groans. I predict the blood that rushes to my cheeks before it happens. “Oh, that’s embarrassing.”

“It’s cool, Bro. We’ll get you some pretzels or fries or some shit. Now get your ass in gear.”

I just stare at him for a second before giggling.

“What?” He says through a small crooked smile.

“You look ugly from this angle.” I laugh.

“Man, whatever, I didn’t want you to come anyway.” He jumps off the bed, looking away from me.

I throw a pillow at him. “I’m sooo sorry, ya big baby.”

“Get up, you goober.” He throws it back at me.

I sit up and push the blanket off of me. I stand up and grab my shorts. I notice Dave is smirking.

“What the hell are you smiling about?”

“Your hair is so puffy. It’s like you have an afro.”

I make a pouty face and try to smooth it down. He walks over to me and ruffles my hair with both hands, smiling all small and cute. I look up at him, trying to tilt my head just enough to where I can see him without looking over my glasses.

There’s a weirdly tense silence. I have a feeling the tension's all in my head. My mouth hangs open a bit as I stare up at him. My arms are slack. He’s so close to me, and I kinda just want to push myself into his slim, fit, pale body. But I just stare at him and his cute, content smile until Karkat’s voice pushes through the air.

“Hey, Asswads, if you’re done with your spiritual connection, we’ll all fucking waiting on you.”

“Yeah, alright.” I say, starting towards the bathroom.

\----

Kanaya’s cool.

Rose and Kanaya look so in love. It's pretty endearing.

I talk to them for, like, 20 minutes before I go get John.

They try to make me talk about my feelings. Like, yeah, so tell me about john and how much you like him. Do you think he likes you. How does that make you feel.

I end up spilling that I plan on making my move at the airport. They say it’s a good idea. I’m not sure if they want John and me to be together or just want to be there to support me, or some other stupid shit.

So anyway, I go to wake the kid up and end up with my eyes and hands glued to his hair. For a second, I look down to see that he’s staring up at me with a deer-in-headlights look. In that moment, I want to kiss him so bad that I look away immediately, forcing my eyes to stay on his hair and away from his stupid adorable face.

Karkat breaks our little moment and John goes to freshen up.

“He’s so cute,” I groan quietly, sitting next to Kanaya. She and Rose smile.

“He certainly is.”

“I think he likes you,” Karkat attempts to whisper.

“Keep it down, Karkat.” Rose says, rolling her eyes.

“No way,” I respond.

“I fucking know this stuff, don’t tell me I don’t, shit bag.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, I watch romance movies and read romance novels all the time. I have a profound as fuck understanding of the different kinds of romance. There’s—”

“Fic-tion-al.” I draw out the syllables.

“Shut up, he likes you, and that’s the truth.” He pauses. “Not that it makes any sense.”

“You know, Karkat, it really hurts when you talk about me like that.” I smirk.

“Fuck, why are you even here?” Karkat grumbles, looking like he’s about to explode.

I shrug and Kanaya moves so that she’s sitting next to him to calm him down.

John comes out after a few minutes. He’s wearing Dickies shorts with a light gray T-shirt decorated with a green slime monster on the front. His face is as adorable and weird as always. I study the way his mouth and eyes move as he talks.

“Hey! It’s, like, 3pm, right? That’s not too early to drink?”

“Nah, man, I’ve drank earlier.” I reply as he plops onto the couch.

“I’m not sure if that’s reassuring.”

“It’ll be fine.” Rose says.

Karkat drives us to the bar. John gets all nervous before we reach the door.

“I mean, my ID says 20. I’m not supposed to be in there. What if they let you guys in, but not me? What do I do?”

“John, if they don’t let you in, we’ll go somewhere else.” Rose tells him, exasperated.

“What if they call security or something!”

“The guy checking IDs is security, idiot.” I say. And then we’re there.

John gets in no sweat, but he’s told not to get any alcohol. John says “I won’t!” too quickly, and I laugh at him.

I wrap an arm around his shoulder as we walk in. “John, really, everything’s fine. You won’t get arrested.”

“Hey, you called me ‘John’!”

“What? No.”

“Yeah you did!”

“Well that is your name isn’t it?” We sit at a booth, my arm still around him.

“Yeah, but you usually call me by my last name.”

“Shut up, Egbert.” I stick my tongue out at him.

“Haha, you’re so lame.”

“Don’t go throwing insults around, dude.”

“It’s not an insult, you’re cute when you’re lame.”

“Which is never. I’m the coolest kid you know, Egbert.”

“Jesus FUCKING Christ.” Karkat groans loudly. “Get a fucking room.”

Rose and Kanaya laugh. I look at John and see that he’s bushing. Of course he is.

“You two are hilarious.” Kanaya smiles. I shrug.

“So, Dave, will I ever get a chance to meet your brother?” Rose asks.

“Probably. I mean, if you wanna stay friends after John leaves.” I expect her to say something, but she doesn’t, so I continue, “Which I do.”

“So do I.”

“Jeez, quit flirting.” John teases.

“Sorry, Rose, but you’re not my type.”

“I’m the exact opposite of your type.”

“If my type was wind, you’re the sun.”

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Karkat asks, actual confusion in his voice.

“Bottom line is I’m not into Rose.”

“And I’m not into Dave.”

John looks at her and then me, and then her again. “You guys are freaking me out. I’m convinced that you’re long lost twins.”

“I need a drink.” Karkat interjects. “Who else?”

Everyone says what they want and throw in some money. John gets water. Karkat gets up and walks over to the bar.

“So you two seem really close.” Kanaya begins, smiling gently.

“Yeah, we really are! Dave’s a really good cuddler.”

“And kisser,” I add without thinking. John’s face gets a little red.

Rose raises her eyebrows. “I’m going to need some elaboration on that.”

“We—We kissed.” John explains, and I’m shocked at how red his face gets. This dumb boy blushes at everything. I just want to touch his face with my cold hands until he’s back to his usual complexion. Not that he’s not adorable when he blushes.

“Really?” Rose makes eye contact with me, and I can see her eyes asking, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Yeah, Bro dared us to.”

“And according to Egbert, I’m a great kisser.” I smirk at him.

“And Dave says I did fantastic.”

“Sounds like you both had a lot of fun.” Kanaya grins, trying to hold back a laugh.

John covers his face with his hands. I scoot closer to him.

“Most fun I’ve ever had.” I smile genuinely, forgetting Strider Policy. I like teasing John, and I’ll keep doing it, just to see him all hot and bothered. “Come on man, hold your head high.”

“You’re missing his smile, John.” Rose smirks.

And that’s what gets him, apparently. I’m flattered by the speed at which his head flings up. I watch his eyes, which rest on my lips. He smiles at me.

“Dave, why do you hide that thing? I wish I had a smile like that.”

“Oh, no, I’m not taking any of that.” I shake my head. “Your smile is dazzling.”

“Are you kidding? It is not, I hate it.” He stops smiling and plays with his lips with his finger.

“Seriously?” Now I’m getting serious. Hell no.

“Yeah, you can see, like, all of my teeth”

“That’s not a bad thing.” It occurs to me that I used to think it was a bad thing, but now I love it.

He just makes kind of a, “It is what it is,” smile. But, no, I want him to love his smile like I do. I don’t know what to say though.

“But—”

“Daveeee, it’s no big deal.”

“But it is, kind of.”

He just looks at me, all cute and confused. He shakes his head. “Nuh-uh.”

“As entertaining as this is, I’m cutting it short. John, you have a great smile.” Rose interrupts, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Haha, sorry!” John laughs.

Karkat comes with the drinks and says he was talking to the bartender. I look over and see a skinny dude with a purple streak in his hair and lots of piercings and rings.

“Did you get his number?” I ask Karkat.

“No! We were just talking!”

“Okay, dude, whatever.”

“Karkat actually has a crush on someone.” Kanaya says quietly.

“Oh my god, shut up.”

“Who is it!” John asks.

“You don’t know her.” He mutters.

“What’s her name!”

“Terezi,”

John makes this dumb, 'omg' face. “I do know her! I met her at Dave’s thing.”

Rose and Kanaya giggle.

“For real?” I ask. “The blind one?”

“Yes! What the fuck, how do you know her??”

“I do those concerts with her. We’re tight.”

“ ‘tight?’ ”

“Yeah, we’re friends. How do you know her?”

“She works at a coffee place I go to.”

“Really? She lives, like, an hour away.”

“I went there once, and it was really good, so I go there when I have time, like, on the weekends.”

“You go there for her, don’t you?”

“I—What! No, you fuckass, their coffee is good.”

“You go there for her. I’ve got her trollhandle.”

He literally scoots forward. “You do?”

“Yeah, I can invite her over here, if you want.” I smirk. He hates it, but he’s totally in the palm of my hand.

“But, if she’s an hour away, we’ll have to wait…”

“I can tell her to go to your apartment.”

I look around. Rose, Kanaya, and John are all watching intently.

“Do it.” Kanaya demands. “Tell her to go to Rose’s apartment.”

John smiles and snuggles closer into my side. I whip out my phone.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] –

TG: hey terezi

TG: wanna come over

TG: not to my apartment

TG: to my friends

TG: were having a little party and you should be there

GC: SUR3 D4V3

TG: oh my god

TG: i forgot you type like that

GC: W3LL 1 DO

TG: how do you even type

TG: you cant see the letters

GC: J33Z D4V3 1 KNOW

GC: 1 H4V3 4 BR41L K3YBO4RD

TG: well yeah

TG: will you come

GC: Y34H

GC: SHOULD 1 L34V3 NOW

TG: yeah

TG: see you

GC: BY3

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] –

“She’s on her way.”

“Well, do you want to leave now, or get another round of drinks?” Rose asks.

“I say another round.” I announce.

Kanaya is the one who orders this time. John stays close to me. My arm gets tired, but I don’t move it.

When she gets back, Kanaya sighs, “I don’t like that bartender.”

“I think he’s okay,” Karkat defends, taking his drink.

I don’t finish my drink. I mostly just pay attention to John. I like watching the way his face moves, you know? His eyebrows, eyes, nose, and above all, lips. I can barely look away from his lips. They look so soft, and they are. I smile just a bit at the memory of his full lips on mine. 

Luckily, no one sees me staring. These glasses give me the freedom to scope out the lips of whoever I want. God, that sounds so creepy.

Anyway, John drives us home. Not that anyone’s drunk, but he wants to be safe.

John and I sit together on the couch. That guy cannot get enough of me.

“You guys act like a couple.” Karkat comments.

“We’re snuggle-bros.” John replies, nuzzling his face into my neck. I feel his breath.

And soon enough, there’s a knock on the door. Rose gets it.

“Ah, you must be Terezi.” She says.

“That’s my name! What’s yours?”

“Rose. Come in." Rose moves and Terezi walks in. "How did you get here, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I took a bus, and then had someone who was sitting on the porch offered to take me up here.”

“She gets around like anyone else. It blows my mind.” I say. Karkat is visibly nervous, so it’s a good thing Terezi can’t see him.

“So who else is here?” She asks, grinning that huge grin.

“I am!” John answers. “It’s John from the concert.”

“I could’ve figured that out by your scent.”

John looks a little shocked. I pull him closer.

“I’m here. We haven’t met, my name is Kanaya.”

“Hi Kanaya!” Terezi shouts. Her voice is loud and intimidating, but I've long since gotten used to it.

“And me,” Karkat adds. “Karkat.”

“You smell familiar.” She literally sniffs his hair. “Dark Mocha Latte!”

“You can smell that?”

“Not the coffee, silly! I smell _you._ ”

“Well get your nose away from me.” He grumbles.

I spend the night watching Karkat and Terezi for bonding, Rose for those telling looks she always gives, and John so that he doesn’t leave my touch. The night flies by easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh i don't like this chapter much :/ sort of a dumb filler and a way to force in a sub-ship! Haha, I really just wanted Dave to meet Kanaya.
> 
> Remember: Leaving comments is totally punk rock.
> 
> I'm going to start posting chapters on Wednesday and Saturday!


	8. Pancakes and Chinese Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished the entire fic, so I'll now be posting every Wednesday and Saturday!

The night goes great!

Terezi’s a lot of fun. Definitely a bundle of energy! She comes off a little, or, no, a lot strong, but I got used to it easily.

I literally did not leave Dave’s arms. Well, I did, but just because I laid with my head in his lap for a while. That was nice, because he was running his fingers through my hair and we were holding hands…

Rose kept giving me these looks. They were like, I don’t know, questioning? She never said anything, but she kept looking between me and Dave. It was weird.

But, yeah, it went really well. I can’t believe Karkat likes Terezi! What a crazy coincidence! Dave and Kanaya ended up sleeping over. Dave and I shared my room.

I just woke up a few minutes ago. I caught Dave nuzzling his face into my hair and laughed at him. He’s still a little mad.

“I was asleep, it wasn’t on purpose.”

“Dave, Dave Dave Dave, I don’t care.”

“But—”

“No, dude, it’s fine. You can get your snuggle on if you want.” I smile.

“Whatever,”

“I can’t believe you sleep with those on.” I think aloud.

“My glasses?”

“Yeah! I don’t sleep with my glasses, and I need those to see.”

“Well, I don’t usually sleep with them on. Just when there are people around.”

I move my lips to one side of my face, trying to do the “ :/ ” thing. “Why can’t I see your eyes?”

“Reasons.”

“No, really. Do you have a lazy eye or something?”

“No.”

We’re lying on our sides, facing each other. One of my hands rests on his bicep. He’s in only underwear, and I’m wearing full on jammies.

“Well, what? Is it like Terezi’s sister’s eye?”

“Vriska? No.”

“Tell meeeeee.” I whine.

“Back off, Dude.”

“Ughhhh. Why won’t you just teeeellll meeee?” I pull my finest whining act. I even do a pouty face. He doesn’t budge.

“It’s not gonna happen, Bro.”

I make a frustrated sound before reaching up and pulling his glasses off. “Ah-ha!”

But his eyes are closed. I spend longer than necessary examining his long, blonde eyelashes.

“Damn it.” I mutter.

I gently set his glasses on the bedside table before throwing myself on top of him. His eyes stay closed. My legs are straddling his hips and I hold his hands down with mine.

“Come on, open.”

“You could have at least bought me dinner first.”

“Dave, it shouldn’t be that much to ask for you to just open your eyes!”

“No deal, Egbert. You might as well give me back those glasses because you’re not gonna get me to open my eyes. They’re practically glued shut. It’s like they’re hiding Anne Frank.”

“Dude, that’s insensitive. Think of another stupid metaphor.”

“It was a simile. Like or as.”

“Whatever, Nerd.”

“I’m not gonna open my eyes.”

“Hm…” I try to think of a plan. “What if I spit on you!”

“Then I’ll shove you off of me and probably never talk to you, ever.”

I sigh a deep and long sigh before moving and giving him his glasses. I start to stand up but he grabs my waist pulls me back in so we’re spooning.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He whispers in my ear. I don’t know if this is intentional, but he sounds totally sexy.

“I was gonna get breakfast.”

We’re, like, super close. He wraps his legs around mine and moves one arm so it’s under my head instead of my waist.

“No way, I need my snuggle-bro.”

“Dave, you’re suffocating me.”

He loosens his arms a bit. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I lay my head on his arm and grab his hand. “What time is it?” I ask quietly.

“I think it’s around 8:30.” His voice is soft and sweet, and it makes me want to snuggle closer to him, but there’s no more space to close.

I want to turn around so I can look at his face, but I don’t. Because then we would be farther away, our bodies wouldn’t fit together as much. I get the urge to just…. To just kiss him, real quick, but that would be crazy and unprecedented and why would I even do that.

His face nuzzles into my hair again, but I don’t make fun of him. I feel his breath on the back of my head, slow and rhythmic. I try to time my breathing with his. We just lie there for a while, not talking or moving.

Without thinking, I bring our hands up to my lips and kiss the back of his palm. He doesn’t react other than his hand tightening around mine.

“Hey,” He whispers.

“Hey.” I whisper back.

“How do you keep your hair this soft?”

“It’s a super power.”

He hums in response.

It starts to get kind of hot, but I don’t move. I consider taking my PJs off real quick and then falling back into his hold, but I don’t do that either. I just try to ignore the hotness.

I mean!! Shit, not like, omg so hawt. I mean, temperature. This whole cuddle thing—totally platonic. Dave’s not hot, our position isn’t hot, I just feel hot. Because we’re in Texas. And Texas is hot. Okay.

“I’m hungry, bro.” Dave whispers after a long time of silence.

“Do you wanna get up?”

“I guess so. But I also wanna stay here.” He tightens the arm that’s around my waist.

“Let’s get up. I’m getting hot anyway.”

“Wow, Egbert, I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”

“Eww, Dave!”

“Ew?” He repeats. “Don’t be a prude.”

“I’ll stop if you stop being a slut!”

“Don’t hate just because my game is better than yours.”

“I have great game, okay, I just have higher standards.”

He chuckles. “Just a random question, are you a virgin?”

I debate how I should answer. “Yeah, but I’ve done oral.”

“Gotten or given?”

“Both.”

“Same person?”

“Yeah.”

He hums.

“Are you a virgin?”

“Nah.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, dude. People think I’m hot for some reason. I think I’m cooler than I am hot.” I giggle. He moves his head so that his lips are right next to my ear. “I even made a straight boy fall in love with me.”

“Oh my god, Dave, shut up.” I shake my head and laugh at him. “How many people have you done the do with??”

“Someone’s jealous.”

“Stopppp.”

“Okay, okay. Just one person. I’ve almost done it with like 20 other people but every time I get all ready for a one night stand I end up either fucking it up or chickening out.”

“The great Dave Strider has chickened out of sex. Incredible.”

“Shut up.”

“Who was it?”

“Huh?”

“Who was it that you had sex with?”

“I had a girlfriend once. Actually, she was my second girlfriend, but my first relationship only lasted like 40 minutes. Well, 6 weeks, but still. It was nothing, it didn’t really mean anything. I didn’t like her and we didn’t act like we were dating. Like, take how much me and you cuddle, and subtract all of it. We just kinda smiled at each other and she sent me nudes. It was stupid.”

“Wow,” I say.

“Okay, yeah. 2nd girlfriend’s name was Penny. She was cool. I actually liked her. We dated all of sophomore year and some of the next summer. She wasn’t a virgin when we met. But—yeah, about a month into summer she broke up with me.”

“Aw, why?” I ask.

“She said she didn’t like me anymore, and that it’s been like that for months. She got tired of me.”

“Oh man,”

We don’t say anything for a while, but I kiss his hand again.

“What about you?”

“What?”

“Who was the one who sucked you off?”

“Ewwww, Dave, that makes it sound so _dirty_!”

“It’s supposed to be dirty, you dope.”

“Hmm. Okay, her name was Hannah.”

“That’s all you’re gonna tell me?”

“Fine. We dated in highschool, junior and senior year. We didn’t… do it until prom. We were gonna, like, actually _do it_. But we decided that we weren’t ready. She was great. I mean—not just like, when we did it. She was a great person. But when she went off to college we split.”

“Sorry, man. Do you still talk to her?”

“No, not at all. I’m over her, though. Maybe we would’ve stayed together, but we didn’t, so I’m not gonna worry about it.”

I feel him nod.

“Did you ever have a 3rd girlfriend?” I ask.

“Nope.”

“Any boyfriends?”

“Not yet.”

I ponder what he meant by, “not yet,” and decide it probably meant nothing.

“Have you had any other girlfriends?” He speaks into my hair.

“No,”

He squeezes my hand. “Okay but I’m really hungry.”

“Alright, man.”

I let go of his hand and sit up. He gets up and walks over to my closet. Or, Rose’s closet, that I’m using.

“What are you doing?” I ask him. I get a good view of his back muscles as he looks through the small collection of silly T-shirts I brought with me.

“I’m gonna borrow one of your shirts.” He answers.

He pulls out my “alright, alright, alright” shirt.

“What.” He says, not as a question.

“It’s Mathew Mcconaughey!”

“Alright, alright, alright. Just keep livin’.” He reads, imitating Mathew’s heavy southern accent.

The accent is actually pretty hot. I pretend that thought never crossed my mind.

I watch his muscles move as he pulls the shirt over his head, and I get all flustered. The shirt is a little too short for him, and looser than most of the shirts he wears. It looks fine, though.

He doesn’t even put on pants before sitting next to me on the bed.

“So you like Mathew Mcconaughey?”

“Yeah, lots!”

“He’s pretty cool.”

I shove him with my shoulder. “He’s _very_ cool.”

“Alright, he’s very cool.” Dave smirks.

“Alright, alright, alright.” I grin and poke his stomach. He smiles a little wider.

“I better get some pants on.” he states, standing up. He grabs the pants he wore yesterday off the floor and pulls them on.

I get up to change as he sits back down. He scoots to the back of the bed so that he’s leaning against the headboard. I almost tell him that he doesn’t have to wait for me, but I decide against it. After all, he might not want to be in a room alone in the apartment, since he’s only been here twice. So I just say “Don’t look,” even though it’s a little hypocritical. I was totally looking at him as he got dressed. Wow, that sounds really weird.

So, I take my PJs off but leave my boxers on, obviously. I stand at the closet and pull out my National Treasure shirt. I put it on and grab khaki pants out of my suitcase. I slide into those and then help Dave up.

We walk out to the living room. Rose and Kanaya are still sleeping on the couch.

“Aww,” Dave breaths. I look at him and smile.

I take his hand and walk to the kitchen slowly so that we don’t make a lot of sound.

“What do you want?” I whisper.

He shrugs. “What is there?”

I open the small cupboard and look around. I spot pancake mix.

“Ooh! I’ll make everyone pancakes.”

“Awesome,”

He sits on the counter. I’m surprised at how quietly he moves. I start getting everything out as quietly as I can.

“Can you get me a big plate?” I ask Dave softly.

He sets a plate down next to the where I’m standing in a matter of seconds. He sits down again as I start the stove.

It doesn’t take long and we don’t wake anyone up. I send Dave to get Karkat and I wake Kanaya and Rose.

“Hmm?” Kanaya’s eyes flutter open. “Oh. Hey, John.”

“Good morning! I made pancakes!”

“Morning,” Rose yawns.

They sit up, but stay under the blanket. I start distributing the pancakes to five plates. I set each on the coffee table along with syrup and sit right next to Rose. We all start eating. Karkat and Dave join us shortly.

“Mm, thanks John.”  Kanaya says.

“No problem!”

“Yumm,” Dave moans. I look over to him to see him licking syrup off his finger slowly and oh wow I’m going to look away.

So we eat. It’s Saturday, so none of them have any classes.

“I can’t believe it’s already been a week.” I say as I pick up everyone’s empty plates.

“It has gone by fast.” Rose comments.

\----

Egbert’s washing dishes.

Rose whispers, “How’d you sleep?”

“I slept well.” I say in a normal voice. I’m not about to spill my guts when there isn’t even a door between John and me.

“I’ll ask again later.”

“Alright.”

There’s not much to tell. We cuddled like hell and it was fine. I like cuddling with him. It doesn’t hurt. It just feels like cuddling.

When he sits back on the couch, he says, “We should watch a movie.”

“I don’t have a lot of movies, John. Karkat does, though.”

“Romcoms?” John asks.

“Yep.”

“No thanks.” I groan.

“Fuck you. No, you shouldn’t watch them. Your underdeveloped thinkpan wouldn’t understand the mea—”

“Oh my god.” I interrupt.

“So, Dave, tell me about you.” Kanaya starts.

“What about me?”

“What do you like doing, that kind of thing.”

I tell her some stuff and ask about her. She’s from another country, and that’s pretty cool. She wants to be a stylist for runways and shit. Karkat wants to be a writer.

The day lazily moves forward until all of a sudden it’s dinner time. 

“I’m in the mood for Chinese.” I say. 

Everyone is okay with that.

“Alright, I’ll buy.” I tell them, taking out my phone and opening a note. “What do you guys want?”

“No, I’ll get it.” Rose objects.

“But you’ve been such a great host, the least I can do is buy dinner.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that.”

“Well, it’s not up to you.”

“Just split it, you dorks.” John laughs.

We both shrug. I record everyone’s order, take $40 from Rose, and start towards the door. John follows me with no announcement.

“Alright, we’ll be back soon!” He calls as I close the door behind him.

He bounds toward the elevator as I walk leisurely behind him.

“This is so great.” He says in the elevator. “I’ve been having such a great trip. I’m so glad I met you.”

My heart flips. “I’m glad I met you too.” I choke out, trying to sound casual.

He grins at me, probably catching the actual affection in my voice. That’s okay, I don’t mind him knowing.

“Kanaya’s so nice. And Karkat’s hilarious! I’m so happy.”

The sound of his voice, filled with joy, makes me smile.

He sees the smile and points to my face. “Hey! Look at you, showing emotion.”

“Shut up, you little ball of pure euphoria. You’re literally glowing,” We walk out of the elevator.

“Haha, thanks, I guess.”

We walk out to my truck. He sits in the passenger seat.

“Can I ask you a question?” John begins once I start driving, falling back from his splurge of happiness.

“Sure,” I have no idea what he might ask. I start to feel anxious, but I suppress it.

“What level of friendship are we on?”

Oh. “We’re snuggle bros, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, but that’s not really what I mean.”

“You’re going to have to fill me in. I’m not well versed in the subject of friendship.”

I say it before I realize how sad it sounds. I see him giving me this sad look, and I just want to erase it and tell him it’s fine but I don’t say anything.

“Well, there are acquaintances.” I shake my head. “Then, I guess, plain friends. Then bros, or close friends, and then best friends.”

“Well, um,” I clear my throat, unsure if I should continue. “Well, seeing as I don’t lots of friends, you’re probably my best friend. But, um, I might not be one of your best friends, so, I don’t know.”

He thinks for a second. “I could see us as best friends.”

I smile at that. The truck fills with silence.

“So,” John starts after a while. “What do you think of Rose?”

“She’s great. I like her.”

“I’m glad.”

“How’d you meet her?”

“She was a new kid at my school in 10th grade. She was born in New York and then her and her mom moved to Washington. Anyway, we had Science and French together. She was my science partner. We really hit it off, and she didn’t have any friends there yet, so I introduced her to Jade and she started hanging out with us.”

“That’s cool.”

“Hey, why don’t you have a southern accent?”

I shrug. “I used to, but then I kinda got rid of it.”

“I heard it when you sang.”

“Yeah, it comes out every once in a while.”

We arrive at the Chinese place a few minutes later. I tell the clerk that we’re ordering for five people and then read all of the orders. John carries all the food.

“ _mm_ it smells so good!” he moans in the car.

“Hold your boner, the food’s on your lap.”

“I’m trying.”

“I swear to god, if it’s even a little hard you’re getting a time out.”

“Will I still get to eat?”

“Yes, but only the food your dick touched.”

“But I though you wanted that.”

I chuckle. “What can I say, Egbert dick just sounds delicious. I’ve got to try it.”

“No sir, you can only indirectly eat my dick.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can eat stuff that touched my dick, but you can’t eat my dick.”

“Darn.”

“Yeah, sorry, I only have one dick and I intend to keep it.”

“If you’re falling short on dick, you could’ve just asked. You can have mine.”

“No thanks, I’ve heard Strider dick is low quality.”

“I’ll prove you wrong.”

“Bluh, you know what, any threat of a boner just went away when you said that.”

“Oh, that burns, dude.”

He laughs.  I smile a little, too.

“You can laugh, you know.” John says.

“Of course I can.”

“I mean, I don’t know what you’re afraid of, but I won’t make fun of you.”

“Why would you?”

“I don’t know! Why would you _try_ not to laugh at stuff?”

I shrug. “It was mainly a thing I did at school so that people thought of me as mysterious and shit and I never stopped.”

“I’ll probably think you’re mysterious forever.”

“Okay, next time maybe I’ll laugh.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

And then we’re back, and he carries the food to the elevator and then the room, me following close behind.

Karkat’s shout passes through the door after we knock. “Finally!”

Kanaya lets us in. We eat on the couch, and when we’re all done, I leave.

The drive home is nice.

When I start undressing, I remember that I’m wearing John’s shirt. I smile and leave it on so I can sleep in it.

I check Pesterchum right before I go to sleep, and I have a message.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead –

TT: We never talked about your night.

TG: huh

TT: You know, how you slept last night?

TG: i told you i slept well

TT: You know what I mean, Dave.

TG: it was fine

TG: my heart isnt bleeding any more than usual

TG: its healing actually

TT: It is?

TG: i think so

TG: it feels better

TG: i guess

TT: Explain.

TG: its like

TG: its cool hanging out with you guys

TG: and

TG: bam

TG: friendship helps

TT: Well, I’m glad to hear that.

TT: But what about John?

TG: what about him

TG: hes cool 

TG: i think id be fine if he didnt like me

TG: it might take a while

TG: but id be okay

TG: this shit happens im not the first twink who fell in love with a straight dude

TG: and like you said

TG: you never know

TT: That’s a great perspective to have.

TG: yeah im pretty much the king of great perspectives

TT: Your majesty!

TG: yeah bow thats right

TG: okay yeah im going to bed

TT: Goodnight.

TG: night

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is wanderingwitchoftime.tumblr.com   
> My gigapause is gigapause.com/profile/wanderingwitchoftime  
> <3  
> Comments are always great, so if you commented, that'd be cool. Thanks!


	9. Piano and a Sunset

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as it happens, I thoroughly enjoy posting chapters. I suppose part of me would like this fic to be just //done so that when I start my next one I can start posting that almost right away.  
> For now, here's an early chapter. One of my favorites! Enjoy.

I don’t see Dave again for four days. I hang with Rose or Kanaya or Karkat, and it’s great. I pester Dave, too. We finally see each other again on Thursday.

We go to a music store so Dave can hear me play piano. I’m a little nervous, but I agree to go. He picks me up from Rose’s apartment.

“Hey,” He greets.                        

“Hello,” I smile at him.

“I brought your shirt, if you were wondering about that.”

“Oh! Actually, I completely forgot you took it. Haha, thank you.”

“No problem.” He starts the car. “So, are you hungry or anything?”

“Not really.”

“Okay, well, the drive’s pretty long.”

“Mkay.”

“Yeah, I was looking up music stores that let you use the instruments and the closest one is an hour away.”

“Alright. How many CDs do you have in here?”

“I don’t know, but they’re in the middle compartment thing if you wanna take a look.”

I open the thingy and start looking at his CDs. There’s a mix CD called “IRONY.” I look at the track list on the back and it’s full of artists like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and Adele. I laugh at Dave. He’s got a band I’ve never heard of (because he’s so damn hipster) and Imagine Dragons, who I like.

“You like Imagine Dragons?”

“Yeah, they’re alright.”

“I like them too.”

“Wanna put it in?”

“That’s what she said.” I take out his mix CD with all his techno-remix-cool kid stuff and put in Night Visions.

We don’t talk for a while but it’s not awkward. It takes him a few songs, but I hear him singing under his breath when “Demons” comes on. I smile. He’s so cute, aww. What a dork. I consider making fun of him but I decide against it. I start muttering along during “On Top of the World.” We’re full on singing together by the time “Hear Me” plays.

We laugh when the song ends.

“That was beautiful,” I praise, still laughing.

“Let’s start a band.” He replies sarcastically.

I sigh happily to stop laughing. We don’t talk or sing for the majority of the ride. It’s nice out, albeit hot. There are clouds in the sky and the grass is green and flowers grow by trees and bushes. I spend most of the drive looking out of the window.

We finally get there, and the place is huge. “Whoa,” Dave and I say in unison. We smile at each other and walk in.

The first instruments I see are string instruments. Beautiful cellos, violins, and violas ready to be bought. Then there’s a section for various types of guitars. Then percussion, then brass, and finally, pianos and keyboards. We walk down the walkway and then turn in to the hard wood section of the floor where the pianos are found. I look around at them, admiring everything from the grand pianos to the xylophones.

“This piano is huge.” Dave muses. I turn to see him running his fingers along the top of the biggest grand piano here.

“Haha, yup. I’ve never played on one that big.”

“Never too late.”

I grin and sit down on the cold bench before the set of keys. “Wow,” I mutter to myself, my fingers grazing the keys. Dave sits on the bench next to me.

“What should I play?”

“There’s some books with sheet music over there.”

“Okay, find me a song with lyrics.”

He gets up and walks toward the stand filled with music books. “Why do you want lyrics?”

“So I can make you sing.”

He chuckles sarcastically. “No way.” He starts looking through one of the books.

“I didn’t say I was gonna ask you to sing. I said I’ll make you.”

“Well good luck with that.”

“I wont play if you don’t sing.”

He looks at me and pauses. “Damn it. Okay.”

“Yes!”

He smirks and continues flipping through the pages. “Found one.”

“Is it good?”

“Yes. I love this song.”

He walks over to me and sits down again. He puts the book on the little stand-thing. The song is “Killer Queen” by Queen.

“I love this song!”

“Me too. Uh, I might sound bad. So.”

“Don’t worry about it, I might sound bad too.”

He clears his throat. I smile and start playing.

His voice… He sounds great. He sings the song exactly right. I suspect he’s familiar with how it’s sung. It’s not a super easy song to play, but I manage. I miss only a couple notes, which is pretty surprising. We sound great together, I think. A few people stop and listen to us. I smile as I play.

\----

I watch his hands as they move across the keys. Oh my god, he’s amazing. I force myself to keep singing past the lump in my throat that keeps telling me to kiss him. I tell that lump to shut the fuck up. I tell that lump that it’s not the right time, that nothing good will come out of me kissing him now.

But once the lyrics start to come naturally, I allow myself to imagine what would happen if I did kiss him.

I’d start by cupping his cheek and making him look at me. Then I would kiss him, and maybe he would kiss me back, but probably only until he realized what was happening. Then he’d pull away, and blush, and panic. Then I’d panic, and probably stammer, trying to explain myself, and he’d just, I don’t know. He probably wouldn’t know what to do. Maybe he’d cry. Maybe he’d run out and call a taxi. Then what the fuck would I do?

The singing part ends and he plays out the rest of the music. There’s applause, and my eyes snap up. I hadn’t noticed the few people who had gathered. I was focused on his hands. There are, maybe, 10 people. I count. There are 12, including a kid and excluding a baby.

I gaze at John to see him smiling at everyone. He hits my arm and I smile too, for the audience, I guess. They dissipate. A few people pay us compliments.

“You’re amazing.” I tell John.

He chuckles bashfully. “Noo, I’m mediocre.” He smiles down at his hands.

“No, really. You are amazing.”

He chuckles again. I fall in love a little more right then as I look at his face, his beautiful face, and see emotions that can’t be described by one word. Bashful, maybe, but that doesn’t quite catch it. I see happy, and flattered, and embarrassed, and modest, and even confident. I smile a real smile at him, open mouth and everything. He sees it but doesn’t point it out. He just smiles back. The urge to kiss him grows 10 fold but I still manage to ignore it.

“You did great. You’re a really good singer.” He praises.

“Thanks, man. Maybe one day we can perform together. You’ll wear a nice tux. I’ll wear a sparkly red dress and sit on the edge of the piano.”

“I’d actually love to do that. Next time one of those concerts come around, let me know. But you have to wear the dress.”

“Scout’s honor.”

He smiles. “You know I’m serious, right?”

“So am I.”

“Isn’t Texas backwards? How will they react to you in a dress?”

“It won’t be the first time.”

“Really?”

“When I went to prom with Penny junior year I wore a dress.”

“I wish I could be there.”

“You would have loved it. We would dance the night away.” Damn it, now I want to go dancing with him.

“I can’t dance.”

“I’d teach you.”

“You’re so romantic, Dave.”

“Are you swooning, Egbert?”

“Yes, I’m swooning, catch me.” He leans on me and I throw an arm around him. “Oh, Dave, you’re such a gentleman. Where have you been all my life?”

I smirk. “I’ve been here, Babe.”

He stares at me for a second, but then he laughs and looks away. I like that name for him.

“Wanna do another?” He asks. I nod and he starts looking through the book.

We do a few more songs and he ends up buying the music book.

 

“So, do you already own a red dress?” John asks as we walk out.

“Nah. Do you own a tux?”

“Nope.”

“We’ll have to go shopping together one day.”

“Mkay. I’ll wear a red tie that matches your dress.”

“I’m thinking bowtie.”

“Yeah? Okay, a red bowtie. What shoes will you wear?”

“Black stilettos. I’ll wear black earrings too. We’re going to match, 100%.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

There’s a few more steps until we’re at the truck. I think about how the next time there’s a concert will be after John leaves, which is to say, after I make my move. Maybe we’ll be together then. Maybe I’ll kiss him on stage and people will applaud. Maybe they’ll say “awwww.” Maybe a few will be dicks, but I won’t care, because I’ll be kissing John. I smile to myself at the thought, and suddenly I’m hopeful, even though there’s still a chance that he’ll never even want to talk to me again after the airport.

“Do you wanna get food?” I ask him.

“Yeah, I am sorta hungry.”

“Where do you wanna go?”

“Is there, like, a Jack in the Box around here?”

“Yeah, probably. Hold on.” I open the maps app on my phone and look it up. There is indeed one close. “Yup.”

I start the car and follow the directions on the app. We get food and then we’re on our way back to Rose’s place.

I gaze at the clock in my truck to see that it’s already 6:40.

“Wait, the sun should be setting soon.” I say, looking around for a place to park.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s always around 7:00, give or take.”

A few minutes later, I see a dirt area where a little “Fresh Strawberries!” stand lies, unoccupied. I pull in and put my car in park.

I step out of the car and John does the same. The sky’s just starting to change colors. I let down the little door to the back of my truck so it’s easier to climb in. I help John up and we scoot all the way back.

“You like watching the sunset?” He asks.

“Yeah, I do.” It’s not ironic or anything. I just really like sunsets.

“It’s beautiful.” He comments.

There’s already purple and orange spread against the sky. I hesitantly put and arm around John’s back and he leans on me as if it came naturally.

“You’re not seeing it like I am, are you?” He asks softly.

“Huh?”

“With your sunglasses. Have you ever watched a sunset without them on?”

“Yeah,”

“Was it better?”

“It was, yeah.”

He pauses. “Take em off, then.”

“No,”

He takes my hand, the one that I had resting on my stomach. “Why not?”

The soft, sweet tone of his voice makes me want to show him, but I can’t. I can’t. But I’ll tell him why I can’t. “Because my eye color is weird.”

“Weird?”

“Yeah, people think they’re scary.”

“I won’t.”

The sunset finally starts and it’s beautiful. The moment is perfect, and it occurs to me that this is probably the best time to show him. And that I will have to, eventually. I take a deep breath, and

\----

He lets go of my hand. I turn away from the sunset to watch him take off his glasses. His eyes stay closed at first, but then they open and—wow.

I put my hand on his cheek and make him look at me. Red. Red eyes, wow. It’s all of a sudden easy to read him. He looks nervous, even scared. Just by looking in his eyes, I can tell that he’s trying to hide that, too. His eyes are so gorgeous, crimson red framed by almost white eyelashes. They’re the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen, maybe. I thought that position would always belong to Rose, but no. And his emotions are so clear in his eyes. For other people, you need a combination of eyebrows, eyes, and mouth to see it clearly, but for Dave it’s all just there! Which must be why he hides them.

I look at his cheek bones, too. Light freckles dust over his cheek bones and nose. Wow, he’s so gorgeous. My heart starts beating faster, I don’t know why, but it does. He’s waiting for me to say something.

“They’re gorgeous.” I mutter. It’s the first thing I think of.

The bottom of my eye catches the red that glows in his skin after I say that. I smile. So does he.

“Your face is like, perfect,” I say without thinking.

His cheeks glow brighter. “Heh, thanks. Yours is great too.”

The sunset’s light glows off his pale skin. My dark hand contrasts with his cheek. I let it drop to his neck. I almost kiss him. I lean in a little, but then I lean back. I think he might have noticed. I don’t know. I don’t know why I did it, anyway. Probably just the whole sunset thing and the eyes and he’s gorgeous and so close to me. I just keep staring at his eyes. I see happiness, or maybe just contentment, but it warms my heart.

“Wow,” I say finally, forcing myself to look at the sky. I catch the end of the sunset. We stay out there, looking at the brilliant sky and enjoying each other until it gets dark and the stars come out.

He puts his sunglasses back on in the car. There aren’t many cars out, so the ride home is faster than the ride there. The windows are open slightly, just enough for the night air to affect us. The atmosphere at night is different than during the day, and it changes the way you feel and the way you look at things. Or it's like that for me, at least. I get a bit cold, but it feels good. It’s quiet with some white noise coming from the occasional car and some crickets.

“I had so much fun today.” I tell Dave when he parks in front of Rose’s apartment building.

“Me too.”

“Really, it was great. I love your eyes. I’m glad that you showed me.”

“I’m glad you didn’t call me a freak.”

I chuckle. “Well, I guess I’ll go inside now. See you soon, maybe?”

“Yeah, soon.” He smiles, for real, open mouth, straight white teeth, beautiful.

I push up his glasses just to look one more time. The smile is real, I see it in his eyes.

“You should get out and hug me real quick.” I mumble. He opens his car door without saying anything.

I meet him outside the car and hang onto him. His grasp is so tight. I feel like I couldn’t get closer to him if I tried, and I do. He holds me on my tip toes so I can rest my cheek against his. I kiss his cheek before letting go.

“I’ll see you.” I grin.

“See ya.” He gets back into his car and waves to me before driving away.

I practically skip up to Rose’s apartment, full of euphoria. Apparently, it shows.

“Someone’s happy.” Rose smirks as I walk in, looking up from her book.

“Yup! It’s me!” I sit next to her and drape my arm over her shoulders.

“Fun night?”

“Yes! It was amazing.”

“Tell me about it.”

“The music place was huge! I played on their biggest grand piano, and Dave sang the songs, and he’s really good by the way. We played, like, ten songs, and I bought this music book. Then we left, and he parked on a dirt lot thing and we watched the sunset, and he took off his sunglasses!”

“Really?” I nod. “What color are his eyes?”

“I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you, but they’re so gorgeous. He’s so gorgeous, I don’t know why he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

I notice that Rose stifles a laugh.

“What?”

“I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.”

“Hmm, okay.”

“Was the sunset nice? I didn’t see it.”

“Yeah, it was beautiful. Dave’s a sunset guy, apparently.”

“Is it ironic?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

She shuts her book. “I’m tired, but I wanted to wait up for you. I’m glad you had fun.”

“Yeah, I’m tired too. How were your classes today, by the way?”

She shrugs. “They were alright. I had a pop quiz in my Freud class which was kind of challenging.”

“Freud?”

“Sigmund Freud.  He was an Austrian neurologist. He’s popular for giving birth to psychoanalysis.”

“I don’t even know what a neurologist is.”

She smiles. “Go to bed, John. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay. Good night!”

“Night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder that commenting is totally cool and makes me really, really happy. Just tell me how you felt about this chapter, or the whole fic, or whatever. <3


	10. Casual Hangouts

The next time we all get together, it’s Saturday. I invite Terezi and Calliope and we all go out for coffee. We meet at a little place about half way between Terezi’s house and Rose’s apartment.

We wait outside until everyone gets there. Calliope’s the last one, even though she’s not the farthest away.

While we wait, Karkat and Terezi talk while the rest of us have our own conversation. I don’t even think they noticed when we walked away from them.

“They’re cute.” Kanaya smiles. “He really likes her.”

“Yeah, he seems less angry and more frustrated now.” Rose smirks, looking over her shoulder at them. "A true sign of love." Kanaya shoves her arm, smiling.

“Hello!” Calliope greets as she jogs onto the sidewalk. “So sorry I’m late. Hi, I’m Calliope.”

I walk forward and hug her.

“You know John and Terezi. This is Rose, Kanaya, and Karkat. And this is Calliope.” I introduce her to them. They smile and say their hellos.

We walk inside and find a large booth. I sit next to John and Calliope. We all get coffee and chat. A lot of it is asking each other "get to know you," questions. I put my arm over the bench behind John and eventually it finds its way to his shoulders. After we order another round of coffee, Rose asks me a question.

“So how long until I see your eyes, Dave?”

“Why are you so obsessed with my eyes? Damn.”

“What can I say, I’m a psych major. I love secrets!”

I chuckle. “I don’t know if you ever will, Lalonde.”

“But you showed John after, what, a week and a half?”

Terezi gasps dramatically. “You showed John? You’ve known me for years!”

“John’s just more persuasive than you, Terezi.” I smirk. John giggles.

“You like him, don’t you?” Terezi asks loudly, leaning across the table.

“Oh yeah.” I reply. “Big time.” Rose and Kanaya giggle and Karkat scoffs. I know that if I denied it, it wouldn’t be convincing enough.

She makes a concentrated face “Hm. This calls for an investigation.”

“No it doesn’t. Take your law fetish elsewhere.”

John and Kanaya laugh.

“Does she really..?” Karkat begins.

“I don’t know what goes on in that crazy girl’s mind.”

“Dave.” She frowns. “Are you calling me crazy because I’m blind?”

“No, I’m calling you crazy because you’re crazy.”

The get together doesn’t last much longer. I hug John before he leaves, as well as everyone else, including Karkat.

“Come on, get in here.” I call to Karkat, open arms.

“No, oh my god. Back the fuck off.”

“Come ooooooonnn”

John pushes Karkat into my chest and I wrap him in my arms. He doesn’t push me away at first, but then he does.

“Bye, Dave.” Rose smiles. “Bye Terezi, Calliope.”

“Bye, everyone.” Callie waves before heading off.

“BYE!” Terezi shouts happily

I simply wave and turn away.

 

I see John and Kanaya on Monday. Then I’m invited to Rose’s apartment on Tuesday, the day before John’s flight.

I get there early in the morning. Karkat explains to me that they’re all skipping their classes to hang out with John all day.

“We’re going to watch Ghostbusters 1 and 2!” John grins.

I smile at him. Of course he likes Ghostbusters. Of course.

“Come on, take a seat.” Rose invites.

I sit against the couch in between John’s calves. I feel his hands slide into my hair and I shiver in surprise.

“Haha, I got you!” He chuckles. I tilt my head back but he’s still not in my view.

“Someone needs to make popcorn.” Kanaya states.

“I will. How many?” I volunteer.

“Let’s start with 3.”

I make the popcorn, put it into bowls and bring them out. I position myself where I was before and John kicks his legs over my shoulders. I play with his feet throughout the movie.

It takes about 4 hours to get through both movies. Normally, it would be, like, 2 and a half hours. But popcorn refills, bathroom breaks, and any pausing or rewinding, added lots of time. Hearing John’s reactions was possibly more interesting than the movie itself. He kept running his fingers through my hair for no reason. It was relaxing.

Karkat moves off the couch and onto a recliner so that I can take his spot next to John. I take up the opportunity and hoist myself onto the couch. Naturally, my arm falls over his shoulders and, naturally, he leans into me.

“Hey, John.” Rose starts hesitantly. I can tell the nervousness is an act, but the oblivious Mr. Egderp probably can’t.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think I can take any classes off tomorrow. So, I can’t drive you to the airport.” She bites her lips and makes a sorry expression.

“I would, but I don’t have a car.” Kanaya follows.

John looks at Karkat expectantly. “You think I want to fucking drive 3 hours tomorrow just to turn around and drive 3 fucking hours back??”

John sighs. I smile at each of them and nod at Lalonde. Everyone smiles back, even Karkat, albeit a tiny smile. The fucker’s probably psyched to be aiding in a relationship.

“I’ll drive,” I say plainly.

He looks up at me. “You will?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Thank you!!” He throws both arms around my neck and pulls himself up to hug me. My hand falls to his back. Sitting down hugs are always pretty awkward.

“Don’t mention it.” I laugh as he sinks back into his seat. My arm assumes its position around his neck.

\----

Dave’s the best.

While the others are consumed in a conversation, I think about how, if Rose had picked me up at the airport when I first got here, I wouldn’t have met Dave. I wouldn’t have even known that I didn’t meet Dave. I’d be like, who’s Dave? I don’t know Dave.

I’m glad I know Dave. He’s really weird, but he’s nice, too. If only I met him in Washington so I could spend more time with him before I have to go.

“I can’t believe I leave tomorrow,” I think aloud.

Rose sighs and puts a hand on my knee. “I know, it’s gone by too fast.”

I’m crying before I realize it. Rose pulls me into a hug.

“I’m, I’m going to miss you, a-all of you. So much.”

“I’ll miss you too, John.” Rose mumbles. I can tell she’s crying too.

“I’ll miss you.” Karkat mumbles. “I’m not repeating that.”

“Oh, John, I’m going to miss you too.” Kanaya says softly.

I bury my face into Rose’s shoulder. She’s been my best friend forever, it seems. And we live half a country apart. Sigh.

I lift my head up and lean back into to couch. Wiping my eyes and sniffling, I say to Dave, “What, you’re not going to miss me?”

He laughs a quiet little laugh. “Of course I’m going to miss you, idiot.” He ruffles my hair.

It’s about noon, so we decide to have lunch. I end up making everyone grilled cheese.

Rose takes a bite and says, “God, John, come live with me, we need a cook.”

I laugh and take a bite. “Haha, I would.”

“Maybe that’s what you should do.” Kanaya begins.

“What?”

“I mean, as a career. Be a cook.”

Whoa, that’s a good idea. “Maybe,” I think about it. I could major in culinary arts in college. “Wow, Kanaya, I could’ve used that when I was graduating.”

She laughs. “Sorry, I wish I could’ve been there.”

After lunch, we play charades. Rose keeps score and I get to go first because “it’s my day.”

I decide to do Spiderman. I hold up one finger for one word and tap my wrist with three fingers for three syllables. I make the hand motion and pretend-shoot a web across the room.

“Spiderman.” Dave says nonchalantly.

“Yup!”

He gets up and I take his place on the couch.

One word, two syllables. He extends his arms in front of him, pretending to hold something, and jiggles his hands and arms as if controlling something.

“Marionette.” Rose guesses. I don’t even know what a marionette is.

Dave points at her and makes a “keep going” gestures.

“Puppets?” She says in an unsure voice.

“Yup, that’s it.”

She stands up and he sits next to me. I lean into him, as was our unspoken tradition. If we’re sitting next to each other, I’m leaning on him. That’s just the way it is.

 

We don’t have a real dinner, just chips. A lot of chips, yes, but just chips.

It gets late and we stay up. It’s been decided that Dave and Kanaya are sleeping over. The night air, even inside, affects us and the way we talk and act. Karkat especially, but I think that’s just because he’s on the verge of sleep but he’s trying really hard to stay up.

Our positions have changed. I’m sitting at the end of the couch with Rose’s feet in my lap while Kanaya sits at the other end with Rose’s head. Karkat and Dave are squeezed into the recliner together. Dave keeps having to wake Karkat up.

“I’ve got a question for you, Egbert.” Karkat says, words slurring slightly. Dave pats his back.

“What’s that, Karkat?”

“Dude, that rhymed,” Dave laughs. I laugh with him. Past midnight, everything is funnier.

“Okay, okay, shut up.” Karkat hushes us. No one makes a sound. “John, would you ever fuck a guy?”

“Huh?” I ask, not sure what I just heard.

“Would you ever have sex with a member of the male gender?”

“Uh…” I think it over. “Like, under what circumstances.”

“You like him and he likes you.”

“Er… I guess I would.”

He nods. “Is there any guy who you might go gay for? Off the top of your head?”

Off the top of my head? Dave’s name comes up first, but I blame that on how late it is. Night air, that’s it. But then memories of us kissing and him in only underwear and his eyes and us cuddling and his smooth voice, hushed in my ear rush into my head…

I squint and banish those thoughts. I gaze at Dave and bite my lip, and he might have noticed, but it’s hard to tell with those glasses on.

“Matthew Mcconaughey.” I spit out to end the silence. It’s true, I probably would, but I mainly just wanted out of that conversation.

Everyone laughs except Karkat, who fell asleep again.

“Let’s get this doofus to his bed.” Dave sighs.

He stands up and nods at me to help him. We carry Karkat into his room and Dave tucks him in.

As we walk out of Karkat’s room, I ask Dave, “Do you think Karkat likes me?”

“What?”

“I mean, ‘cause where did that question even come from?”

“No, man, I don’t think that’s why he asked. Maybe though.”

“Why else?”

Dave stops and turns to look at me. He smirks, “He was probably thinking, wow, I’d totally go gay for Dave. Is that weird? Maybe John likes Dave too.”

Shit, oh my god. I blush. “Haha, you’re so full of yourself.” There, I’m cool, that was a normal thing that I just said.

“You’re blushing.” He says quietly, still smirking.

“I know I am, shut up.” I turn away from him and walk back to the couch. He sits on the recliner.

“What time is it?” Kanaya yawns.

“2:04.” Dave replies.

“It is very late.” Rose sighs.

“Yeah, I’m tired.” I add. “Will you guys be here when I wake up?”

“When are you waking up?”

“I was thinking by 11:00.”

“I’ll be here.” Kanaya smiles.

Rose yawns. “I’ve got a class at seven that ends at 8:30, but I can be back by 11:00.”

“What about Karkat?” I ask.

“I think his classes start at 1, but I’m not sure.” Kanaya answers.

“Okay, let’s go to bed.”

We all stand up and I hug Rose and Kanaya.

“Tonight was fun. Thanks for skipping your classes and staying up with me.”

“My pleasure.” Rose smiles kindly.

“Mine too. It _was_ fun.” Kanaya follows.

I sigh and turn towards Dave. “Alright, Snuggle-bro, let’s go.”

I grab his hand and pull him into my room.

“Don’t get used to this, Egbert, tomorrow night I wont be there to cuddle.”

I push him onto the bed. “Shut up, I don’t want to hear about that shit.”

“Hold your horses, Bro, I gotta get ready.”

Of course, him getting ready means him stripping. I have to get my PJs on, but I’m so tired, I just lean against the headboard for a minute while Dave gets his clothes off. He takes his sunglasses off, too.

“Isn’t it too cold to be half naked?” I ask him as he scoots back towards me.

“That’s why I use blankets.” He explains.

I feel myself begin to doze off. He shoves my arm. “Come on, get to it. PJs.”

“You know,” I slur, getting off the bed. “I didn’t even leave the house today, but Rose said I should get dressed because people are coming over.”

“I’m so sorry for you.”

I kick my pants off and pull off my shirt. I leave them on the floor for me to pack away tomorrow. I just lay back into bed after that without putting my pajamas on. Dave doesn’t say anything, he just pulls me into his arms and spreads the blanket over us. Our legs tangle together and I grab his hand.

“Good night, Babe.” He whispers in my ear.

My heart jumps. “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“God damn you’re cute,” He breaths.

“Haha, thanks, you gay butt.”

He nuzzles his head into my hair and then I’m asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh shit whats gonna happen in the next chapter  
> ;););)


	11. Airport

I wake up at, like, 10:30. I turn around so that I’m facing Dave. He’s still asleep. I take a moment to look at him. His beautiful face, peaceful and precious, glasses off. He really is beautiful, it’s kind of weird.

I wake him up by nuzzling noses with him. “Wake up, sleepy head!”

He blinks a few times before his eyes focus on mine and I smile at him. His hand flings up to his face and pats around for glasses. I gently grab his hand and guide it away.

“You took them off before bed,” I tell him.

He links his fingers into mine and smiles a little bit. “Oh yeah.” I think he’s still half asleep.

“I’m going to get up and get ready now.” I whisper to him. He nods and shuts his eyes. As I stand up, I laugh at him.

I get dressed first and then pack the rest of my things. When I’m done, I sit on the edge of the bed and I’m sad all of a sudden. I wish everyone I love just lived together on an island or something, then I could go see them whenever. I sigh and crawl back onto the bed.

“Wake uuuuup.” I shake Dave’s arm.

His eyes open. “Sup?”

I laugh and tug at his arm, pulling him up. “Get ready, loser.”

“Get ready for what?”

“To drive me to the airport.”

His eyes widen. “Oh--! Oh yeah, that’s today.”

“Yeah, so get up. I’d like to leave soon, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He sits up and stretches his arms above his head, letting out a moan that can only be described as loud and sexual.

I go out to the living room, taking my suitcase with me, while he throws on his old clothes. I tell Kanaya and Rose, who are waiting in the living room, that I’m just gonna brush my hair and stuff and then I’ll say goodbye.

I get really emotional in the bathroom, but I try to suck it up. There’s a knock at the door before I’m done.

“Yeah?”

“I really gotta pee.” Dave pleads.

“You’re gonna have to wait a minute.”

“Damn it.”

I hurry. When I open the door, it’s like Dave teleports inside. I close the door behind him.

Rose sighs and pulls me into a tight hug and I hug her back.

“We’ll set something up again soon, okay?” She says into my shoulder.

“Yeah, definitely.” I press my cheek against her soft hair. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.”

She lets go of me and I hug Kanaya.

“It was so nice meeting you, John. Have fun in Washington.”

“It was nice meeting you, too, Kanaya.”

Rose goes into Karkat’s room and drags him into the hallway. He doesn’t object to giving me a hug.

“I’m really tired.” He says into my ear.

I laugh at him. “Okay, Karkat. Nice meeting you.”

“You too. Have a nice flight.”

He yawns and trudges back into his room.

“Are you going to eat here or get something on the way?” Rose asks, sitting back on the couch.

“Get something on the way, I think, ‘cause I wanna leave soon.”

Dave walks out. “Are we ready?”

I hug Rose and Kanaya again and cry a little bit before we go. Dave pats my back to cheer me up as he walks us to his truck.

“You’ll see them again, come on. Don’t cry. Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. Dr. Seuss said that.”

I shove him away but then I go and hug him. I press my head against his chest and he rubs my back.

“There, there.” He whispers into my hair.

I push him away again and take a deep breath. “Okay! Let’s go!”

We get food from a fast food place and then we’re on our way. Dave seems a little jumpy, like he’s nervous and he’s thinking about something. His breaths seem a little heavier than normal. I try not to wonder why he’s nervous, and instead I hold his hand, the one that was resting on the middle compartment thing. That seems to calm him down a little bit.

“Thanks for driving me,” I say after a little while.

He smiles. “No problem. Wouldn’t want to stick you in a cab for three hours.”

“Haha, yeah.”

It’s quiet for a few minutes with only the car’s radio making noise.

I sigh. “I don’t like planes. Or airports.”

“Why’s that?”

“Airports are loud and crowded and I have to go in alone because I’m not flying with anyone. Then on the plane I’m sat next to a stranger and it’s still loud and crowded. The food’s not very good on planes, and the bathrooms are horrible. But I have to stay put for like four hours and I can’t use my phone because only some planes have wifi. I mean, I can read, but I’ve never been very good at reading and I can’t stay focused on a book for very long before I start reading a page and then having to go back and reread it because I didn’t take anything from it. Ya know?”

“Yeah, I get it. I prefer trains and cars for traveling. Or boats, if it’s needed.”

“Yeah, but planes are much faster.”

“But road trips are so much fun. Have you ever been on a road trip?”

“No,”

“We’ll have to do one someday.”

“Yeah, sure! Where will we go?”

He looks at me for a second. “How about California? Or New York, or Atlanta. Florida, maybe.”

“I’ve never been to New York.”

“Alright, New York it is.”

“Can we invite Rose?”

“Hell yes. I’ll pick her up and drive to Washington to get you, then we go to New York. Sound good?”

“Yeah! And we can stop in other states on the way, right?”

“Whatever your heart desires, Bro. And then we’ll spend some time in New York before turning around and—”

“And you guys can stay at my house for a few days before going back to Texas!”

He smiles. “Looking forward to it.”

“Maybe in the summer, when Rose doesn’t have classes.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The drive is long and not very scenic. We’re on a freeway the majority of the time. It’s not a bad drive, though. Just a little boring.

Finally, we arrive at the airport. Dave offers to walk me to the doors, and I say sure. I’m vaguely aware that his heart rate has picked up, but I think nothing of it. I think a little of the fact that his hands are shaking, though. Is he okay? I feel like if I ask, he’ll deny it, so I don’t say anything.

In front of the airports big doors, we stop. I smile at him as I reach up to move his glasses. His eyes are definitely full of nervousness, and now, it’s time to ask, I decide.

I think he sees the concern on my face because all of a sudden his eyes seem more shielded.

“Dave, are you okay?”

His eyebrows knit. He pulls me up onto my toes by my waist so my eyes align with his. I casually rest my arms on his shoulders.

“I’m just gonna miss you,” He whispers.

“Aww, I’ll miss you too!”

He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and--whoa, he’s kissing me.

I’m surprised for a second, but something inside of me says that I shouldn’t push him away. So I close my eyes and kiss back, as if this was a totally normal thing.

Our lips push and dance against each other. I curl my fingers into his hair as he holds me firmly against him. He bites my bottom lip at one point hard enough that it hurt which makes me whine. He licks where he was biting and I shiver at the feeling of his tongue.

I pull away only when I need air. Our foreheads rest against each other and we’re breathing heavily. I’m not thinking, only feeling, and the kiss felt good. I close my mouth and kiss his lips twice before starting another open mouthed kiss. This one’s only different from the first because it’s shorter and Dave uses tongue.

When I end the kiss, I think I might hear someone shout a slur, but I pay it no mind. We breathe in each other’s air, which can’t be very healthy, because I start feeling light headed. I pull away a little more to get fresh air and that’s when logic and thought start coming back to me.

I have a plane to catch. I have to sort this out now.

“Dave…” I whisper, not sure how to say it. “What, um, what was that for?”

“Okay, here it goes,” He takes a deep breath. I look into his eyes as he speaks. “I like you, John. I mean, I _like_ you. I like hanging out with you, and I like cuddling with you, and kissing you, and I like laughing with you, and I, I don’t know, I like you.”

“You… like me?”

He chuckles nervously. “Yeah, I like you. I’m, um, attracted to you.”

“Oh…” I look away from his eyes and try to think. I have a flight to catch. I don’t have time to think. Why’d he have to do this now?? I feel my heartbeat quicken and I start feeling anxious. “I, I don’t,” I take a deep breath to steady myself. “I don’t know how I feel. I like doing all that stuff to, but I don’t know…” I look at him again. I’m not sure what’s in his eyes, but it doesn’t seem like sadness. “I need to think. But first, I need to get back to Washington. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” He says, and I can tell he means it.

I lift myself up and hug him again.

“Bye, Dave! I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.”

I turn and open the clear glass door. As I walk in, I look back and Dave’s looking at me, glasses still off. I smile at him before rushing off.

\----

That was probably best case scenario, save for him saying he feels the same way.

But he kissed back. Not only that, but he kissed me again. He didn’t push me away, he didn’t say he never wanted to see me again. He just said he need to think.

I turn towards the parking lot with mixed feelings. I’m relieved to have that off my chest, but there’s a feeling of loss replacing it. Because even though that went well, I think, he’s still gone.

I sit in the truck for a few minutes before driving away to prepare myself for a long ride alone with my thoughts. Maybe that’s what John’s thinking, too. He’s about to board that plane and sit in the same seat with a bunch of strangers for four hours. And he did say he needs to think. I put my sunglasses back on before starting the car.

I get progressively lonelier as the car ride goes on. And the more I think about it, the stupider the “kiss him at the airport” idea sounds. I can’t see him and talk to him about this. I just have to wait and see if he contacts me, because I don’t want to be the first to text him. And if he does want to be my boyfriend—my heart jumps as the word crosses my mind—I can’t kiss him or hug him or even smile at him. God damn it what was I thinking.

But, then again, if I had told him on that Thursday when we were performing together in the music store or singing in the car or watching the sunset, would I have felt any better now? He’d still be leaving.

I don’t know what would have been the better choice. But what’s done is done, and I don’t know how to time travel.

I can decide what I do in the future, and I try to do that. But I’m at a loss. There’s pretty much nothing to do but wait. I’ll talk to Rose about it, maybe. She’ll probably be asking anyway.

I end up just turning the music up loud enough that I can’t hear myself think and concentrate only on driving.

When I get home, it’s past 7. I decide to make a microwave meal, maybe watch some TV, and then go to bed.

While I’m waiting for the food to finish cooking, I get a message from Rose.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] –

TT: I assume you’ve left the airport.

TG: yeah im at my house

TT: Did you go through with it?

TG: with what

Of course, I know exactly what she’s referring to. I’m just kind of putting off the explanation she’s waiting for.

TT: Your plan to finally tell him, of course.

TG: yeah

TT: You did?

TG: yeah

TT: How did it go?

I take a deep breath before typing it out.

 

TG: so i kissed him

TG: my glasses were off because he has a red eye fetish or something

TG: wait i didn’t mean to say that

TT: I already knew, Dave. 

TT: Continue.

TG: damn it no you didnt im mysterious as shit

TG: ok anyway

TG: he kissed me back

TG: and i didnt even know how to react so i just kept kissing him

TG: his hand like tugged at my hair and i took that as a sign

TG: a sign that said its ok to get a little adventurous

TG: so i bit his lip and he whined

TG: i dont know if you know this

TG: but his whine is at the top of my turn on list

TG: but i stopped biting because i don’t want to hurt him

TG: and i licked his bottom lip after that

TG: so what im trying to say is that it was like a full on kiss

TG: not a friendly goodbye kiss

TG: it was like

TG: a lets fuck kind of kiss

TT: Okay, and then what?

TG: oh yeah sorry

TG: we had to breathe so he pulled away

TG: but then he kissed me again

TG: and i was fucking floating i swear

TG: he must have a knack for wind because i was swept the fuck off my feet

TG: anyway

TG: then he asked why i kissed him

TG: so i told him that im into him 

TG: and he says he needs to think

TG: like hes confused and he doesn’t know if he likes me i guess

TT: Wow.

TG: wow what

TT: I’m just a bit surprised.

TT: Mostly because he kissed you back.

TG: so you thought hed flat out reject me and you didnt think to warn me

TT: I think it’s important that you told him.

TT: I knew he wouldn’t be rude about it, anyway. 

TG: well i guess im glad you didnt

TT: So, How are you feeling?

 

TG: im ok

TG: a little lonely i guess

TT: You’re welcome to come over if you’d like.

TT: Well, maybe not tonight.

TT: But soon, I’m sure. 

TG: cool

TG: good night

TT: Good night, Dave.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

I eat the crappy food and go to bed happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoaaaa  
> Remember, my tumblr is wanderingwitchoftime.tumblr.com so???  
> Comments are gr9 and much appreciated! <3


	12. Washington Bound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter // :)

The plane ride is long, but there’s still not enough time for me to sort out my feelings.

Feelings… for Dave.

I let out a sigh and the person next to me shushes me.

Okay, okay. So… Dave. He is an attractive dude. I have, on more than one occasion, pointed this out to myself. He really is great looking.

And he’s funny, which is a plus. He’s nice most the time. Um, I like hanging out with him.

He’s a good cuddler. And… and a good kisser.

I shut my eyes and breath through my nose. This is so hard.

But, I mean, that doesn’t mean I like him. Rose is all of those things (I know she’s a good kisser because we've played spin the bottle a few times), but I don’t like her.

But, I’ve also never gotten the urge to kiss her randomly. Which I have with Dave.

But, okay, I’ve got to address this at some point. Dave is a _guy._ He’s a cute guy, sure. But he’s still a guy.

I’ve never liked a boy before, ever. I’m pretty sure I’m straight. I wish I could talk to Rose about this. Stupid lousy airplane.

She’d get a kick out of this. I smile a little at the thought of her dishing out the best of her “sexuality is fluid” stuff. Which is absolutely right, sexuality _is_ fluid.

But I just… penises are, like, not pretty. They’re so ugly. I have one, I should know.

“Romance isn’t about genitals,” I can hear Rose say in my head.

I chuckle awkwardly to myself because _ewwwww._ “Genitals” is a gross word.

Maybe I could get used to it? I shudder. Ugh, I’m so confused.

I wonder when he started liking me. It’s weird to think that all those things we did… He was, like, into me? Like while we cuddled… and I changed in front of him! Ugh, what.

It’s not a huge deal, I guess. I mean, he changed in front of me too.

Oh my god, did he tell anyone?? Is that why Karkat asked that question last night?? Is that why everyone said they couldn’t drive me to the airport? Oh my god, what is this. I’m so confused. Everyone knew except me?

I can’t even deal with this. I need sleep. That was so unexpected.

I feel bad! I wish I could’ve given an answer. I wonder how he’s feeling right now. I wonder if he’ll text me soon. I don’t really want to talk to him until I’ve made my decision…

I tilt my head back and take a deep breath. I take a look at the little screen in front of me that displays a map of the country. It also says how fast the plane is going (565 mph) and how much time is left in the flight (an hour and 48 minutes).

That is way too much time. I sigh.

I mean—okay, people say you know when you know. If I liked him, wouldn’t I have realized that by now?

But I kind of did. Last night when Karkat asked if there was a guy I’d go gay for, Dave was the first person to pop in my head.

It still doesn’t feel right to say, oh yeah, I like Dave. I really need to get some advice.

Maybe I should just do some reading until we land. I’ll take a break from thinking… maybe that’ll help.

I take my book out of my carryon and start reading. Eventually, it does take my mind off of Dave and helps me relax.

The plane finally lands. Getting off the plane was annoying; all those people rushing and shoving to get to their bags. I checked my bag, so I have to go to the conveyor belt and find it. After that, I find my dad waiting at the gate.

He hugs me. “Welcome home, Johnathan.”

“Augh, Dad, don’t call me that.”

“My apologies. Let’s get you home. You must be very tired.”

I sigh. “Yeah, I really am.”

We walk out to the car and put my bags in the back.

“How was your trip?” Dad asks after I climb into the front seat.

“It was great! I met Karkat and Kanaya, and they’re great. And I met—yeah, I met them.” I decide not to tell Dad about Dave, at least not until all this feeling stuff is sorted out. I tell Dad about my trip, and I want to tell him about how I met a crazy dude who raps and runs an online comic with red eyes and pale skin and freckles and blonde hair. But I don’t. Maybe I’ll vent that out to Jade. Or Nanna, even.

We get home. Nanna’s at the door and she’s holding a cake that says, “Welcome back!” I laugh and give her a one-arm hug so I don’t mess up the cake.

Dad offers to make dinner.

“Yes, please.” I reply. I’m not in the mood for cake, not at all. Maybe if I get some other food in me, cake will sound better.

I tell Nanna about my trip, withholding anything about Dave. When she’s done asking questions, I walk into the living room and plop down on the couch.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] –

EB: hi rose!

TT: Hi.

TT: How was your flight?

EB: it was horrible.

TT: I’m sorry to hear that.

EB: yeah, okay.

EB: did you know about Dave?

TT: What about him?

EB: that he likes me!

TT: Yes, I knew that.

EB: have you talked to him at all tonight?

TT: Yes.

TT: He’s fine, John.

EB: okay. i just feel bad I couldn’t give him a real answer…

TT: Well, he’s not mad at you. It’s not your fault.

EB: okay, thanks.

EB: i’m really confused, rose.

TT: About what?

EB: i don’t know if i like him or not!

TT: If you’d like to talk about it, I will listen.

TT: But I don’t know how much help I’ll be.

TT: You have to come to that decision yourself.

EB: what do you think i should do?

TT: It’s not my decision.

EB: bluh.

EB: this is so difficult.

TT: Yes, I suppose it must be.

TT: I’m sure you’ll make the right choice.

EB: thanks, i guess.

TT: Say “hi,” to your dad and nanna for me.

EB: okay.

EB: they both say hi!

TT: What are you three up to?

EB: dad’s making dinner, nanna’s writing a letter, and i’m talking to you.

TT: What is he making?

EB: i’m not sure.

EB: he made me a welcome back cake.

TT: Oh, of course he did.

TT: I have to go. Enjoy your dinner.

EB: haha, okay.

EB: bye rose!

EB: miss you already.

TT: I miss you too.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] –

I take a deep breath through my nose and, wow, that smells good. I close my eyes and sink into the couch cushions. Soon enough, Dad calls me into the dining room for dinner.

 

After dinner and cake, I go up to my room to unpack. As soon as I’m done, I go to sleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an announcement to make!! I'm currently working on a new johndave fic, because I've already finished this one. It should be very different from this one.  
> <3  
> comments make my life, so please leave them!  
> You're all great, thanks for reading! Spread the word if you like the fic~


	13. Strider Road Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that chapter 13 is outrageously short, less than a thousand words. and since chapter 12 was p short too, i thought I'd post this one now as if they were the same chapter or something idk. Next one will come out on saturday.  
> /im rping as Dad in another tab as i edit this chapter so sorry if i miss anything lololol

I go see Rose the next day. I head over there around 3:00 pm. Karkat makes me retell the story of the airport.

“When he does give you an answer, will you tell me? The suspense is killing me.” Kanaya requests. I nod.

“I just really want to see him.” I sigh, sinking into the chair so that my chin is resting on my chest.

“Hm… I think that if he saw you, it might help him decide.” Kanaya thinks aloud.

“What if I just drove up there?” I mutter.

“Huh?”

“Like,” I adjust my posture. “I could drive up to Washington. It’s a 2 or 3 day trip, at most.”

“That’s the stupidest fucking idea I’ve ever heard.” Karkat shouts.

“He might think that’s creepy.” Kanaya adds.

“I’ve known John for a very long time.” Rose begins. “He wouldn’t think that. Especially considering how close you and him already are, Dave. He might be surprised, very surprised, but he’d probably greet you with open arms.”

I hum thoughtfully.

“What if you drive all the way up there and he says no?” Kanaya says quietly.

“Then whatever. I still get to see him, and I get an answer.”

“What if he still doesn’t know?”

“If it’s a two day trip, and I leave on Saturday, then that’ll be four days plus a plane ride that he’s been thinking. That’s enough time, right?”

“Yes, and then seeing you will surely help him decide. If not, the two of you can talk about it.” Rose grins.

“Hell yes. Where doing it man. Where MAKING THIS HAPEN.”

“Did you just reference your own comic?” Karkat scoffs.

I look at him. “Have you been reading my comic, Karkat?”

He looks away. “Shut up.”

I chuckle and look back at Rose. “I’m gonna need his address.”

She gives me his address and I stay over for a while longer. She urges me to take my glasses off every ten minutes or so, but I refuse.

I leave her apartment late in the night. When I get home, I text Bro.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering timaeusTestified [TT] –

TG: hey bro

TG: im gonna be gone for a few days

TT: Where are you going?

TG: on saturday im gonna drive up to washington

TT: Why?

TG: cause i wanna see john

TT: I’m in.

TG: what

TT: Let’s do it.

TG: no

TG: not lets

TG: just me okay

TT: No fucking way.

TG: damn it

TG: if youre at my apartment and ready to go as soon as i am then you can come

TG: i wont wait

TG: not even a second

TG: got it

TT: Deal.

TT: So why do you want to see him so bad?

TG: i told that i like him at the airport and he said he needs to think

TG: but im about ready for an answer

TT: What did you do?

TG: i kissed him

TG: he kissed back

TT: Good for you, Little man.

TG: yeah

TG: well bye

TT: I’ll see you on Saturday.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering timaeusTestified [TT] –

 

Sure enough, Saturday comes and Bro is at my apartment ready to go before I even wake up. I get ready quickly and we hit the road.

“When did my baby brother become such a romantic?”

I scold him. “Watch it. Annoy me too much and I’ll kick you out.”

“No you won’t.” Bro opens up the middle compartment and looks at the CDs. He puts in the Ironic CD.

I groan. “No, not today.”

He stops the music. “What’s the deal? We’re going on a road trip, you should be pumped.”

“I’m just a little stressed, Bro. I don’t know how he’ll react when we get there.”

“Dave, that little asshole is gonna fall head over heels when he sees you.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.”

“I’m gonna put in AM, alright?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He puts the CD in. We listen in silence for a long time. And by a long time, I mean for the entire car ride, we only say a few sentences each, like when we stop to get food and we have to order. We stop at a motel at 11:32 pm, both of us feeling thoroughly tired.

We barely settle into the motel before going right to sleep. I don’t sleep well; I wake up in the middle of the night. I go back to sleep, only to have Bro wake me up, like, 3 hours later. I’m still just as tired.

“Let’s get some coffee in you and get outta here.” Bro says after I put fresh clothes on.

“Yeah, sounds good.” I yawn.

We get our stuff together and head to the ground floor where they have a small complimentary breakfast buffet set up for those who stay. It just has bagels, bread, various types of cereal, coffee, juice, and jelly. I make some coffee and take a seat at one of the little tables. Bro gets two bagels, one for him and one for me, and sits in front of me.

“Howya feeling, Sleeping Beauty?”

“I feel shitty.” I rub my eyes. “Do I look okay? I don’t want to show up at John’s doorstep looking like the grim reaper.”

“You look fine.”

“Just fine?”

“You look great, princess. Are you done with your coffee yet?”

“Almost.”

I finish the coffee, pee, check out, and then we leave. I prepare myself for another long and boring drive.


	14. “Someone just parked outside our house,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE IS SMUT IN THIS CHAPTER  
> I'll warn you again right before, so you can read everything but the smut if you want.   
> Posting this friday night instead of saturday bc why not

I try to think about Dave some more, but I still can’t come to a conclusion! Guilt is gnawing away at me. It takes a lot to admit you like somebody, ya know? And I can’t give him a straight answer. It’s been 4 days now, and I still don’t know.

He hasn’t texted me, and I’m thankful for that. I still haven’t told Dad or Nanna about Dave, and I haven’t talked to Jade, either.

It’s good to be back at my house. I still miss everyone over in Texas, but being back somewhere familiar is nice.

My Dad’s baking cookies for some charity thing and I’m sitting on the kitchen counter, talking to him about anything.

“I might want to be a cook.” I tell him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll study culinary arts or whatever in college. Kanaya suggested it. And I do love cooking, so…”

“That’s a big decision to make. I’m proud of you, Son.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Someone just parked outside our house,” Nanna calls from the front room near the window.

“What does the car look like?” Dad asks, walking towards her. I follow.

“It’s a red truck.”

Dave has a red truck, I think. I jog to the window and, oh, that’s Dave. He’s getting out of the car and he looks really nervous!

“That’s Dave!” I shout.

“Who’s Dave?” Dad says as I run out the door. I don’t answer him.

I come to a stop in front of Dave. His brother is leaning against the truck. There’s a love song playing loudly from the car.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask Dave.

“I wanted to see you,” He replies. He stuffs his hands into his pockets stiffly.

I run into him and throw my arms round his neck. He hugs me tight around my waist and picks me up. I step on his toes so my head is level with his. I can feel his hands shaking and his heart beating fast. My heart rate picks up too, I realize.

“How’d you get my address?” I ask into his neck.

“I asked Rose,” He whispers into my ear.

“I missed you.” “I missed you too.”

I pull back enough to look at him. He’s got a gentle smile on his face. I smile widely at him. I focus on his lips and… I think I’ve made my decision.

I crash my lips into his so hard he needs to back up a few steps to keep his balance. He starts kissing back instantly. The kiss is messy, but it’s good. He bites and sucks my bottom lip and I leave kisses around his mouth. He licks my lips and teeth a little bit and I giggle. We’re both smiling against each other. What the kiss lacks in structure, it makes up in passion.

It takes me a while to realize that Dad is behind us and doesn’t even know who Dave is.  But I continue to kiss him for a few seconds before pulling away and taking a deep breath.

“Wow, you really did miss me.” Dave smirks. I kiss his nose.

“If… If I may interrupt…” Dad begins, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I’m a bit confused.”

“Dad, this is Dave.” I say, loosening my arms,

“Okay, but I don’t know who Dave is.”

“Hello, Mr. Egbert.” Dave sticks his hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

I move to Dave’s side so that he’s just got one arm around me.

Dad shakes his hand. He sounds exasperated and confused, but like he’s still trying to be nice. “Hello, same to you. Would you like to come in and have dinner? We can discuss a few things.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

I wave at Bro as we all walk inside.

“I can’t believe you drove all the way out here.” I whisper to Dave.

“Told you I love road trips.”

“You’re lucky you’ve got me.” Nanna tells Dad. “Your cookies almost burned.”

“Thank you. I need to make dinner now. Would you mind helping?”

“Not at all, Son.”

They walk into the kitchen, likely to stay there until dinner’s ready.

“Wanna go see my room?” I ask Dave, unsure what to do.

“Sure,”

“Use protection,” Bro calls as we walk up the stairs. I hear my dad drop something in the kitchen.

“Shut up, Bro.” Dave counters.

I laugh and push Dave to hurry up.

He looks around my room as I sit with my arms around my knees against the headboard of my bed.

“This is the biggest collection of shitty movie posters I’ve ever seen.”

“Shut up, those movies are awesome.”

He laughs and gets on my bed. He crawls over to me and reciprocates my position right next to me.

“Dave?”

“Yeah?”

“When did you start liking me?”

He pauses. “Um, I think it was the day we went thrift shopping with Rose.”

“That’s a day after we met.”

“Yep.”

“So… when I went over to you house two days later, and you answered the door in your underwear…”

“And caught you checking me out?”

“Yeah, that. You liked me then?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Wow. And then later that day, I called you gay.”

“You were absolutely right.”

I giggle and kick my legs out in front of me. I grab his face with both of my hands and pull him into a kiss. He leans over me and adjusts the position of his legs for easier access. We kiss like that for a minute or so before I jump on his lap, still kissing him. I knit my hands through his hair and his hands find their way under my shirt, just barely, but the feeling of his skin against mine sends tingles throughout my body. I feel him smiling.

“I like you.” I whisper to him, ending the kiss.

“I like you too.” He kisses me. “I didn’t make a bad impression, did I? Is your dad going to hate me?”

“Nah. He’s just confused. He’ll warm up to you. Just… Don’t cuss too much, and maybe lose the glasses, just for dinner.”

“Yeah, because my demon eyes will really help him warm up to me.”

I sit back since I had been leaning forward and take Dave’s sunglasses off.

“John, really. I’d rather keep them on.”

He looks sincerely bothered, like he really thinks my dad hates him. That’s really cute, I think. So I kiss him again.

“Okay, you can wear them. But you better have a good excuse in case he asks you to take them off.”

“My eyes are sensitive to light.”

“Are they really?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s probably because I’ve been wearing sunglasses my entire life, or because I'm part albino, but it’s true.”

I smile at him. “You’re pretty cute, Dave.”

“You’re cuter.”

“Pshhh.”

I fall onto my side next to him and loosely rest my arm over his chest. I rest my head on my shoulder.

“So… Are we, like, boyfriends now?” I ask. The term makes my heart flip.

“If you want to be, then yeah.”

“I do.”

“Great,” He kisses my forehead.

“Okay, okay. When Bro dared us to kiss, you liked me?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why he dared us? Because he knew?”

“I think so.”

“Huh.”

“And every time we cuddled.”

“Yeah.”

“When we watched the sunset…” I look at him. “You know, sometimes I got the urge to kiss you. Randomly. Like when I saw your eyes for the first time, I almost kissed you.”

“You should’ve.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I pause before kissing him again. This one lasts a long time. When I finally break it, it’s to say this, “I’ve never been in a long distance relationship before.”

“Neither have I.”

“But, it’ll work, right?”

“It should. Just don’t cheat on me and we’ll be okay.”

“I won’t! And you won’t either.”

“No way. Why would I? I don’t think there’s anyone on Earth I’d rather be with than you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve never met anyone who I get along with so well. And who I like so much.”

“Wow. Well, I’ve certainly never liked a guy as much as I like you.”

He chuckles. “Good to know.”

I pepper little kisses over his neck and jawline. He closes his eyes and smiles.

Soon, my dad knocks on the door and says “Dinner’s ready,” without opening it.

Dave grabs his glasses off the bed where I set them and we get up. I slip my hand into his and we make our way to the dinner table.

“It smells delicious.” Bro compliments once we sit down.

“Thank you, Mr. Strider.”

We begin eating and there’s an awkward air filling the room.

Dad breaks the silence. “Tell me about yourself, Dave.”

“Well—um, like what?”

Dave seems so nervous. I touch his back to comfort him, but I’m not sure if it works.

“What are your hobbies?”

“I, um, I rap and I mix beats…”

“You rap.” Dad repeats.

“He’s really good.” I chime.

“Anything else?”

“I draw a little bit.”

Dad nods. “What are your plans for the future?”

“I’d like to one day move to New York and become a DJ.”

“Oh, wow.” There’s a pause. “Do you need those glasses inside?”

“My eyes are sensitive to light.”

“Oh, okay. How did you and John meet?”

“He thought I was Rose, actually. So he ran up and hugged me. It was in a little plaza outside of the airport he arrived at.”

“Did you meet Rose?”

“Yes, I did. She’s great.”

“I agree, she’s a very good kid.” Dad clears his throat. “So what brings you _here_ , Dave?”

He chuckles nervously. “Well, uh, I drove John to the airport. And—And that’s where I told him that I like him. And he told me he need time to think, so yeah. But I got restless, I guess, and I really wanted to see him. And I talked to Rose about it, and she agreed that I should drive up here. So that’s what I did.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about him, John?” Dad looks at me.

“I guess I didn’t want to have to explain everything?”

“Okay. Mr. Strider, what do you do for a living?”

I just kind of want to tell my Dad to shut up. I get that he’s doing the whole protective dad thing, but it’s really annoying.

While the attention is shifted towards Bro, I try to calm Dave down. I lay a hand on his thigh and my other on his hand. “You’re doing fine,” I whisper to him. He lets out a long breath.

Dinner goes okay. We finish up pretty soon.

“You two can stay the night if you want.” Nanna invites. I smile at her.

“Thank you so much.” Bro smiles, touching her hands kindly. He really can be charming if he wants to be.

“Thanks. Uh, where will we sleep?” Dave asks.

“You can sleep in my room, Dave.” I say quickly. Dad makes a noise of protest. “Don’t worry, Dad.”

He takes a deep breath. “Okay. Mr. Strider, you can use the guest room. Upstairs, first door to your right. John, can we talk?”

“Sure thing.” I smile at Dave before following my dad into the living room.

\----

I walk up the stairs with Bro.

“How do you think that went?” I ask him.

“Fine, Dude. Don’t worry about it.”

“Do you think he likes me though?”

“Mr. Egbert or John?”

“Mr. Egbert.”

“Sure. I mean, he might not be completely warmed up to you, but I think he’s still just confused and surprised, ya know?”

“Yeah… What do you think they’re talking about?”

Bro ruffles my hair. “I have no idea, Little man. Calm down, alright? Go relax in your boyfriend’s room.”

I don’t move, I just look down.

“Dave, look at me. John likes you. Just remember that. Now quit being a little bitch and go.”

“Shh, Mr. Egbert doesn’t like cussing.”

He pushes me towards John’s room forcefully. “Get out of here.”

I give Bro the finger while walking into John’s room.

I sit on his bed and wait. I try not to think about what they might be talking about or what his dad thinks of me. Just… Think of John. He likes you. I smile like a fucking idiot at the thought.

It’s not _too_ long before John walks in, looking a little embarrassed.

“I am soooo sorry about that.” He pushes me so that I’m laying down and crawls over me. He kisses me, our lips just barely touching.

As soon as the kiss ends, I ask, “What was he saying?”

John laughs and sits up. Now I’m laying down and his legs are straddling my stomach as he looks down at me.

“He asked me about being gay. Like, ‘when did you realize you were gay,’ ‘have you always felt like this,’ ‘why didn’t you tell me,’ that sorta thing. It was dumb. I kept telling him the same thing.”

“Was that it?”

“Um… He did mention one other thing, but, I’ll tell you about that later.”

“Did he say anything about me or Bro?”

“No, he didn’t. But I think he likes you guys.”

I smile. “Did he give you the talk?”

“No. That was a long time ago.”

I laugh. “Get down here and kiss me, dork.”

“Psh,” He leans down and kisses me, elbows resting on either side of my head. I run my hands over his back and lift his shirt up so I can touch his skin. He gets goosebumps which makes me smile.

“Dave,” He whispers. “We should get ready for bed.”

“Is that your way of getting me to strip?”

He giggles. “Shut up,” He rolls off of me and starts getting ready. I smirk at him as he takes his pants off. When they’re off he jumps on me, pushing me back, and kisses me. “Quit being a creep.”

I gently shove him away so I can sit up. I sit on the edge of the bed and take my shirt off. John’s arms creep around my stomach and he kisses my shoulders and neck. I tilt my head to the side to give him more room. His hands slide down to my lap and he begins to unbutton my pants. I watch his hands closely. After he unzips the zipper, he slides his hands down my thighs and I squirm. He laughs at me as he pushes my pants down.

_A/N: SMUT STARTS HERE_

I swing my legs onto the bed and push him down so that I can hold myself over him. His hands grasp my hips. I kiss his neck, biting and sucking at the skin until he whines. I really love that whine. I lick where I was biting. I keep kissing as one of my hands slides under his boxers.

“Mf, Dave,” He moans.

“Shh,” I breathe into his neck.

“Haha, I’ll try to control myself.”

He places his hands on either side of my face and pulls me into a kiss. I scoot forward to make it more comfortable. While we kiss, I slide my hand up his boxers again. He pushes my hand away and breaks the kiss.

“Be careful, if I get hard that’s your responsibility.”

“Well,” I slide my hand back up, farther this time. “I think I can handle it.”

He squirms. “Daveee.”

“If you want me to stop, I will.”

“I’m... just afraid that I’ll moan too loud.” He whispers.

I laugh. “I’m flattered.”

My hand still rests at the top of his thigh. I lift my hand easily under the loose fabric and just lightly touch his skin with one finger. He hums and tilts his head back. I kiss his adam’s apple. I feel him get fully hard as I move my hand over to his cock and lightly feel it. He shivers at my touch.

“Oh my god, Dave,” He breathes into my hair. 

I take my hand out of his boxers and stroke him through the fabric.

He forcefully pushes me off of him and swings his legs over the side of the bed.

“What did I do?”

He winks at me and slips his boxers off. “I’m just sick of you teasing me.”

I smirk and my eyes drop down to his hips. I lick my lips. “Get over here, John.”

He puts on a serious face. “I’m not letting you near my dick until you take those glasses off.”

I roll my eyes (even though he can’t see) and take them off. I toss them onto the floor carefully. John smiles and crawls towards me. He kisses me, and while he kisses me his hand falls down my chest and lands on the bulge in my underwear. He lightly pets the fabric.

Eventually, I push him back gently so that he’s laying down. I spread his legs farther apart, maintaining eye contact with John all the while. He's blushing furiously. I smirk at him right before I lick his shaft slowly. He bites his bottom lip.  I take his tip into my mouth and slowly move my head farther down, and then back up, and down again. I keep at the same pace for a while as he groans and hums and whines. His hands curl into my hair. I lift my head up and kiss down his dick and then up again. He lets out a groan as I lick around his tip and kiss the very top.

“D—Dave—I think I-I’m close.”

I put his tip back into my mouth and wrap my fingers around his cock. I pump my hand up and down quickly.

“Are--are you g-oing to-to swallow it?” He asks as if it’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard.

I lift my head up, still pumping.

“I was planning to.”

“I thi-ink—”

He blows his load right in my face with a strangled groan. I blink a few times. He bites his lip and looks me in the eye nervously.

“Sorry. I was gonna say, I think you should move.”

“It’s okay. I’m fine.” Ew, it’s sticky and some of it got into my eye. I blink some more.

\---- _A/N: SMUT ENDS HERE_

Oops!

I totally feel bad about getting his face and everything, but the sight… For some reason, seeing his face dripping with my cum is just really hot.

I giggle.

“What?” He asks, an amused smile on his face. Some of the cum drops off his nose and onto his lips. He licks his lips and winks at me.

“That’s a good look for you,” I laugh, sitting up.

He grins and kisses me. “Take it in because you won’t be seeing it very often. It’s sticky, dude.”

“Grosssss.” I kiss him again anyway.  “How about we get you washed up?”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay, get some clothes on.” I stand up and put on my boxers and a shirt. He puts on his shirt.

“What if your dad or grandma see us go in there?” He asks.

“Dave, it is way past their bedtime.”

I grab his hand and lead him out of the door and into the bathroom. When I turn on the bathroom lights, he cringes.

“What? Are you okay?”

“It’s just bright, I’m fine.”

“Alrighty.” I grab a wash cloth and get it wet. “C’mere babe.”

He walks forward and stops right in front of me. I wipe his face down and end up throwing the wash cloth away. I kiss him before leaving the bathroom. I can’t stop kissing this dude, this is ridiculous.

When we’re back in my bedroom, we lay down for bed.

“This is so weird.” I mutter.

“What is?”

“This whole thing. We met each other, like, 3 weeks ago, right?” I turn onto my back so that it’s easier to talk to him.

“Yeah,”

“And, I mean, I was straight. I guess I wasn’t actually, but I was like pretty sure I’d never be attracted to a dude, ever.  And so, we met, and then everything changed. I didn’t expect to meet anyone in Texas. And then I met you, and you’re super weird. Not in a bad way. And we became really close really fast, and I didn’t even question that. And then you kissed me at the airport. And I kissed you back. But I was still telling myself that I don’t like guys. It was like, I was trying to find a reason to say no. And then you showed up at my house, and I realized that I don’t need to do that, ya know? And then I just let you blow me, which is pretty weird because with my last girlfriend I waited like half a year. And everything just keeps changing. It’s weird. And you’re here listening to me. And you look beautiful. And, I like you so much. I can’t believe I ever doubted that. It’s so obvious now.”

There’s a second of silence before he kisses me. “Go to bed, baby.”

I fall asleep easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp  
> ((comments are always great))


	15. Back to Texas

When I wake up in the morning, there’s a moment where I don’t remember anything that happened yesterday. I think it’s just friendly cuddling like we did back in Texas, until I realize that it isn’t and a feeling of joy spreads through me. I also realize that I’m in Washington, I don’t have fresh clothes, and I’ll probably be driving almost all day today. But at least right now, in this moment, I’m with John, who I can now call my boyfriend.

I don’t wake him up, but it doesn’t take him long to wake up on his own. When he does, he turns onto his other side so that we’re facing each other.

He smiles at me. “Hey, boyfriend.”

“Morning.”

“Do you wanna get up yet?”

“Not really.”

“Then let’s stay here.” He scoots a little closer to me. “I actually want to talk to you about something.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s the other thing my dad talked to me about yesterday. Other than the gay stuff.”

“Hm. Okay.”

“He—Okay, hold on. How do I word this. He said that he thinks that it’s time I find my own place, and he suggested I move in with you.”

I pause, thinking he’s going to continue. But he doesn’t. “Okay, sure. Let’s do it.”

“I told him no.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll be weird now that we’re dating, right? Moving in together is supposed to be a step. It’s like, get together, meet each other’s friends, meet each other’s family, move in together, get married, have kids. We’ve already passed the first three steps and we’ve only been dating since last night. And I know that 2/3 of those steps don’t really qualify as steps, because we met each other’s friends before we got together, and I met your brother before, and meeting my dad right after was inevitable. But moving in together can still be a big thing. I’d like to have milestones in our relationship, ya know?”

“Yeah, I guess so. But what if we just don’t share a room? We keep all our stuff separate until we’re ready to actually ‘move in’ together.”

“That makes sense, yeah…”

“And you know, we can’t rush into marriage after we move in together anyway. Not if we live in Texas.”

“Why not? Wait, I know why. Bluh.”

“Yeah, it’s stupid. But once it is legalized there, we can have a double wedding with Rose and Kanaya. How much fun will that be?”

He gives me this sad look. “Dave, we might not even get married.”

“Oh, yeah, I know. But a double gay wedding, dude. Just imagine it. Kanaya can design all the clothes, because she’s into that. Not Rose’s though. It’s bad luck for the bride to see the bride’s dress before the ceremony.”

He giggles. “Dave, stop. That’s making me nervous.”

“Okay, sorry.” I pause. “Let’s live together, dude. We’ll do separate rooms. It’ll be easier than a long distance relationship.”

“But, another thing, I don’t know if I’ll have enough for rent. I can probably get a job in retail, but I’ve never paid rent before. I’ve never had to have a steady job—”

“I don’t have a steady job. I just do shows and live off of sponsors and tips. Sometimes I get paid to perform or DJ some place, but that’s it. And I’ve been able to pay all the rent. So… Hey, even if you don’t get half the rent in, I can cover you. And we can start performing together. We’ll go to bus stops and shit, we’ll get you a nice keyboard and we’ll borrow one of your dad’s fedoras or one of Bro’s snapbacks, put it on the ground for tips.” He laughs. “We’ll do just fine, Egbert.”

“No no no, don’t call me that anymore.”

“John.”

“That’s more like it.” He takes a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s move in together.”

I kiss his nose.  “Look at us having a serious relationship discussion. Is that a step?”

“Hey, do you think you have to go home today?” John asks, his eyes meeting mine.

“I think so. I’m out of clothes and I don’t know how long your dad wants to extend his hospitality. I mean, this isn’t Butler Island.”

“Butler Island?”

“The place where you just keep gettin’ served.”

He laughs. “You’re a huge dork.”

“Takes one to know one.” I brush a piece of hair out of his face. “Have I told you that you have beautiful eyes?”

“I don’t know, maybe. Thanks.”

There’s a knock at the door.

“Yeah?” John calls.

“Breakfast’s almost ready, dear.”

“Thanks, Nanna.” He looks at me. “We better get up.”

So we get ready. I wear one of John’s shirts and my pants.

“I could get used to seeing you in my clothes.”

“Then you’ll love living with me because I will steal your clothes all the time. Ask Bro.”

He links his arm with mine and we walk downstairs. Breakfast isn’t ready yet, so we sit on the couch in the living room with John’s nanna.

“Your shoe’s untied.” Nanna says to me, pointing down.

I look down at my feet to see that I’m not wearing shoes. John laughs. Nanna lets out a hearty “Hoo hoo hoo.”

“You fell for the oldest trick in the book.” John laughs. I shove his arm.

Bro walks into the room and sits on a little cushioned chair that’s almost too small for him.

“Good morning!” John greets.

Bro nods. “Hey. How’d you guys sleep?”

“Great.” John and I say together. He laughs.

“I slept just fine.” Nanna smiles. “You?”

“Very well.”

 “Breakfast is ready!” John’s dad shouts from the kitchen.

Bro and John’s nanna sit next to each other at the table, and they seem to get along well. I sit next to John, who sits next to his dad. John tells his dad that we talked about living together and decided it would be a good idea. His dad says that he’s proud of us. I just want to ask him, “Hey man, do you approve of me dating your son?” I’m listening in for any clue to how he feels, but I don’t get one.

After everyone’s finished, Mr. Egbert asks to talk to me privately. He takes me upstairs into his office so that everyone else can go into the living room.

“Dave, what are your intentions with my son?”

“Intentions? I’d like to, um, date him, sir.”

“Why?”

“I like him,”

“You like him?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

He nods. “Don’t hurt him.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

He clasps me on the shoulder. “You’re a good kid, Dave.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re leaving today, correct?”

“Yes, I was planning on it.”

“You will. Go get John, will you?”

I walk down to the living room and gesture for him to come in. He looks a little nervous.

“Is everything okay?” He whispers as we walk upstairs.

“Yeah, everything’s great.” I ruffle his hair.

“I’d like to talk about the moving situation.” Mr. Egbert begins.

John takes a seat in one of the nice chairs in front of the desk and spins in a circle. I smile at him.

“You’re a huge dork.” I mouth. He sticks his tongue out.

“Dave, you have your own house, yes?”

“Yeah, it’s an apartment.”

“Two bedrooms?”

“Yes.”

“Is the other ready?”

“No, I’ll have to move some stuff, but I can be finished with that by the end of the week.”

He asks more questions like this, and we decide that John will fly out to Texas on April 15, two days after his birthday.

I take a short shower before Bro and I get ready to leave. John lets me wear his shirt.

He hugs me on his doorstep.

“I’ll see you in April.”

“I’m a little disappointed we won’t be celebrating your 21st birthday together. Don’t get drunk without me. We wouldn’t want you accidently fucking a random girl.”

“Dave, I don’t think my dad will take me out drinking. He’ll probably give me a beer and tell me he’s proud of me.”

“Alright.” I lean back so I can look at him. “I’m gonna miss you, babe.”

“I’ll miss you too.” He kisses me. “Now get out of here.”

“Bye.”

“Bye!” He stays by the doorway as we drive away.

Bro offered to drive this time, and I’m glad. We stop at a motel again at night, and in the morning, I drive. I hang out at his apartment where we used to live together for a while before driving to Rose’s place because she asked me to go see her as soon as I get back.

She invites me in, makes me iced tea, and sits next to me on the couch.

“First of all, how was the drive?”

“It was fine, I guess, but boring. We didn’t catch too much traffic.” I take a sip of the tea. I don’t like it, not at all.

“Okay, now, tell me what happened.”

“I got there, and he hugged me, and then he kissed me.” I smirk.

“Oh, that’s great. Anything else?”

“I gave him head later on.”

She looks surprised for a second but then smiles and shakes her head. “That was blunt.”

“What, do you want me to explain the event in detail? You into that?”

She chuckles. “I’m glad it went well.”

“He’s going to move in with me.”

She pauses. “You certainly are moving fast.”

“His dad thinks it’s time he moves out. We’re going to have separate rooms.”

“Okay. What does Dad think of you?”

“‘Dad’?”

“Yes, that’s what I call him.”

“Alright, well. Uh, I think he likes me. I think he might be worried about me though, like he thinks I’ll break John’s heart or something.”

“Well, I’m sure you can prove him wrong. Does John seem okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he’s never been very good with change, and there’s a lot of change going on.”

“He’s okay. I think he might be overthinking things a little bit, but, he’s fine.”

Rose inhales deeply through her nose, smelling the tea, maybe? “It’s nice to have a new member of our little group. You’ll have to meet Jade.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“We should have a family get together this summer.”

“Is there some sort of initiation I have to pass before I join the family?”

“Yes, but you’ve already passed.”

“Oh yeah? What was it?”

“Blowing John. We all had to.”

“Did he have to wash your lipstick off his dick afterward?”

She nods. “It was horribly uncomfortable for him.”

“Did John have to blow himself?”

“Yes. It was a wonder to behold.”

“I’ll have to ask him about that.”

She smiles.  “Dave, I’m very tired.”

“Me too. I’ll see you whenever,”

“Bye, Dave Strider.”

I drive back to my apartment. I mark April 15th on my calendar and count the days that I have to wait: 17. 17 days. I can do that.

I resolve to clean out my extra room tomorrow. If I have extra time I’ll sing outside for tips. It’s been too long since I’ve worked a gig.

As I get ready for bed, my phone goes off.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] –

EB: hey!

EB: it’s late where you are, right?

EB: i just wanted to say, good night!

TG: yeah im getting ready for bed right now

EB: great, i messaged you just in time!

TG: yup

EB: how was your drive home? or are you not home yet?

TG: yeah im home 

TG: the ride was boring

TG: i miss you

EB: i miss you too!

TG: just 17 days until the 15th

EB: im so excited! 

TG: me too babe

EB: are you tired?

EB: you seem kinda tired.

TG: yeah i am

EB: alright, i’ll get out of your hair.

EB: good night!

TG: night

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] –

I collapse onto my bed and I’m asleep in minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, so, let me tell you a little bit about my next fic.  
> It's a highschool au. The beta kids plus Karkat and Kanaya have been friends for years. The first chapter includes an ironically romantic confession of love! It will be shorter than this fic, and angstier. I hope you'll give it a read :) I won't post any of it until this entire fic is posted, though.  
> Any questions about the new fic? Wanna draw me some hella fanart based off of this fic? contact me at wanderingwitchoftime.tumblr.com :D  
> <3<3


	16. Moving In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some smut in this chapter, but it will be announced~

Jade came over for my birthday and slept over until the 15th. We have to wake up early(ish) in the morning to have our goodbyes—and it’s suitably emotional—and Dad drives me to the airport. I’m so excited to see Dave again! But I’m pretty anxious, too. There’s a lot of new stuff going on, but I try to just go with it.

I keep telling myself in the airport: It’s so close, I’m gonna be there in no time! But when I get on the plane, I’m reminded that I’ve got 4 hours of sitting down before I see him. I would rather have four hours of walking or driving or something. I mean, just sitting down—it doesn’t even feel like I’m moving. I don’t know, plane rides just suck.

But when the plane lands, and it’s time for the 10 minutes of the plane just rolling to a stop, I’m at the edge of my seat.

“Well, you seem excited.” The tired looking woman sitting next to me comments, smiling.

“I am!”

“What’s waiting for you?”

“My boyfriend.”

She looks a little surprised and looks away. “Oh,”

I’d say something, but—fuck her. I’m too excited. I don’t care.

I get up quickly once the plane stops but I’m still stopped by the crowd of people trying to get their bags. I go get my bag from the conveyor belt and then rush out of the gate. I look around and see Dave holding a little sign that says “Egderp,” and standing next to Rose. I laugh and run towards them.

When I’m about halfway to them, the wheels of my suitcase hit my ankle and I fall over, face first. It hurts a lot and my glasses almost break.

“Ow…” I groan, adjusting my glasses. I look up just in time to see Dave bending down.

“Jesus, you fell for me once already, that was enough.”

“Shut up and help me.”

He helps me up and brushes hair out of my face. I pull him closer by his shirt and kiss him.

He pulls away. “I missed you too, bro. Let’s get out of here.”

We start walking. He takes my suitcase from me.

“I can handle it,” I tell him, trying to take it back.

“You fell on your face like 2 minutes ago.”

I huff and keep walking. We put my bags into the back of his truck. Rose gets into the back seat.

“God, I missed you guys.” I say in the car. “Wow, I can’t believe I’m going to live in Texas! This is so great.”

“How have you been?” Rose asks, smiling.

“I’ve been good. Jade says hi.”

“Did you tell her about me?” Dave asks.

“Yeah. She was so surprised!”

“By what?”

“That I’m, like, dating a boy. But she can’t wait to meet you. She says you must be a real charmer.”

He chuckles. “I guess so.”

“I was thinking this summer we could get everyone together. Maybe we can go somewhere, like Chicago or Hawaii.”

“Sounds fun.”

We drop Rose off at her place before going to Dave’s apartment. Or, mine, I guess.

He carries my suitcase and my carryon. As soon as we’re inside, I push him against the door and kiss him. I push his arms against the wood until he drops the bags.

He starts talking while I keep kissing him. “Do you want—to unpack now—? Or—”

“Shut uppp,”

“I don’t like this—”

I stop. “What?”

“Eheh, I just, don’t want to be the one who’s pushed.”

“Oh, haha, so what you’re saying is that you want to be in charge?”

“Yeah, sorta.”

I push him harder and lean all of my body weight against him. “Too bad you little bitch.”

“I hope you know,” We kiss. “That I could push you away if I wanted to.”

“Yeah yeah, you’re all talk.”

“This whole dominant thing you’re doing would have a greater effect if you weren’t so short.”

“Hehe, shut up.”

I kiss him again and he kisses back. Mid-kiss he walks forward a bit and I wrap my arms around his neck. He grabs my thighs so that I jump up and throw my legs around him. I give up the ‘dominant thing’ and let him take over. He carries me into his bedroom—kicking open the door—and throws me onto the bed.

“Woo, aren’t you a tough guy.” I tease him.

He drops down onto the bed and crawls on top of me. I hold his face near mine to keep kissing him, even though he keeps trying to move. I don’t feel like _doing_ anything—I just want to kiss him right now.

His lips are warm and he tastes a little bit like apple juice and Doritos (which is gross, by the way) but it doesn’t bother me enough to stop kissing him. Eventually he stops trying to move away and just kisses me. I tangle my fingers into his hair because it’s soft and I love the feeling of being connected to him.

We kiss for a long time with only short breaks to breathe before finally he raises his head.

“You should probably unpack.”

“Ughh. I don’t even have a dresser or anything to put my pants in. I just have the closet.”

“You—” He moves his arms so that his palms lay flat on either side of my head and he’s in, like, push up position over me. “You don’t have a bed.”

“Huh. I don’t, do I?” I lightly feel his arms with my hands. They’re flexing because of the position he’s in and it brings out the curves of his muscles.

He smirks. “Let’s set up your room to the best of our ability, then we can look into getting you some furniture.”

I nod and he pushes himself up. I walk into the room across from his as he grabs my bags. We hang up all the shirts I brought and that’s about all we can do. I also take the little stuff I brought, like keepsakes and knick knacks and whatever, out of my bag and set them up on the floor next to a wall. Dad’s gonna be shipping stuff here, stuff like my key board and those huge books that I’ve had forever. It’s gonna be awkward at first, but once I get furniture and all my stuff I’m sure things will feel normal.

Dave and I sit on the couch and cuddle up with his laptop half on his lap half on mine. We look up furniture stores that are close by and surf through their inventory. We decide on a store that looks good and bookmark the website. Dave says we can go on Saturday. I don’t have a car, so he’s pretty much in charge of where I go, unless I want to call cabs or take buses everywhere.

“Until then, I guess you’ll just have to sleep in my bed.”

“What a shame.”

He puts his arm around my shoulder and I scoot closer to him.

“I’m tired,” I whisper into his chest.

“Wanna go to bed now?”

“Yeah, let’s go to bed.”

He closes his laptop and puts it on the coffee table. I get up and grab his hand and we walk into his room, closing the door behind us. I stop in the middle of the room and turn around so that I’m facing Dave. I reach my hands around his waist and stop on his booty.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asks, looking down at me.

“Just makin sure you have the booty.”

“I’ve always had the booty.”

I smile and raise myself onto my toes to kiss him.

“So when you said you wanted to go to bed, did you mean you want to _sleep_ or..?”

“Hmm, we’ll see.” I kiss him again before turning away.

_A/N: SMUT STARTS HERE_

I skip a little further into his room and take my shirt off. I don’t look at him until I’m done getting undressed, and I mean _completely_ undressed, trying to give him a show. When I turn around, he’s just staring at me. I can’t tell where his eyes are due to those fucking glasses. He scrambles with the button of his jeans to catch up. I laugh and get comfortable on his bed as I watch him hurriedly get his clothes off. No matter what he says, I’m in control here.

He crawls up next to me and asks, “What do you wanna do?”

“First of all,” I take off his stupid glasses and stare into his eyes for a second. “Much better.”

His eyes are laced with excitement. I turn onto my side and graze my hand down with torso and I take his, oh, well, you know into my hand and feel along its length, maintaining eye contact with Dave the entire time and watching the emotion on his face change.

“Ooh, it’s long.” I grin.

He looks surprised for a second before smirking and blushing a little bit. I let his, uh, I let it go and cup his cheek.

“Ew, Dude, that just touched my dick.”

I laugh and pull his face closer to mine so I can kiss him lightly.

“You’re so gay.” He breathes into my mouth.

“Lucky you.”

I throw myself on top of him and just lay there, lazily kissing him. Eventually, I adjust myself so that im hovering over him. He starts slowly grinding up against me and I mimic his motions. We get faster and keep going until both of us are hard. At that point, I stop and crawl off of him and onto the floor. I kneel between his feet (which are barely hanging off the bed) and wait for him to sit up and scoot forward.

He stops when his butt is on the very edge of the bed and I’m sitting between his thighs. He looks at me questioningly and I just smirk at him. I figure, I gotta repay him for last time, right? I’m sure he didn’t expect me to, but why not? I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing, but I’ll give it a shot.

I kiss the inside of his thighs before kissing his tip. Hesitantly, I take it into my mouth and move my head forward and back, watching Dave’s face closely.

He looks a little shocked and flustered. I’m a little upset that he doesn’t look pleased. I go in farther, as far as I can, and I feel him at the back of my throat. He moans, tilts his head back, and sighs. I get faster, moving back and forth, and he keeps moving his head. He sways it back and forth and his skin gets red and he bites his lip, and most importantly, he moans. His moan is something I’ve never heard and it’s works as encouragement for me to keep going.

I take a break to trail my tongue all over his, oh man, his dick. It’s weird and kind of uncomfortable to hear that word travel through my mind but I digress. He lets out this strangled breathy sound that really shouldn’t be hot but it is.

“ _John_ ,” He moans under his breath.

I smile and hesitantly suck lightly on his ball sack, which makes him squirm and groan. It tastes _really bad_ , like worse than just his cock, so I go back to sucking on his member.

It doesn’t take too much longer for him to say, “I’m close,” amidst his heavy breathing.

“Uh, what do I do?”

He takes a deep breath. “I don’t care if you wanna spit, swallow, or get it all over your face but don’t leave me hanging.”

“Oh!” I finish up by stroking him quickly with my hand and letting him jizz on my face. I just feel like I owe it to him, you know?

He yells my name when he orgasms and then it turns into a deep laugh as he falls back onto the bed.

“Babe, that was…” He’s panting hard and smiling. I situate next to his head on the bed. “That was great.”

“Thanks.” I smirk.

He looks at me and laughs. “You got a little something on your face.”

“Yeah, I feel it,” I scrunch my face up.

He sits with his legs crossed and faces me, smiling. I wipe some of the cum from my cheek and suck on my finger. He smiles and kisses me after I move my finger. I throw one arm over his shoulders to bring him closer. He slips his fingers into my other hand. We kiss for a while before he pulls back.

“Can I just take your picture because oh my god I’ve never seen anyone look sexier.”

“I don’t think so.”

Our foreheads rest against each other and there’s a gentle smile on his face. “Did I ever tell you that I’m into photography? I’ve got a really good camera I can use.”

I kiss him again. “No way. I’m gonna go clean up.”

\----  _A/N: SMUT JUST ENDED_

I follow John into the bathroom, both of us still naked.

“You never told me that.” He says as he looks at himself in the mirror.

I close the lid on the toilet and sit. “I didn’t?”

“Nope.”

“Well, yeah. I am.”

“Can I see the pictures you’ve taken?”

“Uh…” He looks at me expectantly, and I relent. “Yeah, sure.”

“Yay!”

He splashes his face with water and wipes himself clean. When we walk back into my room, both of us put our underwear on and sit on the bed.

“Soooo?” He begins, bumping me with his shoulder.

“What?”

“Go get your pictures!”

I groan dramatically and sulk my way over to my closet, still groaning. I grab the shoe box where I keep my photos and (still groaning) crawl back onto the bed.

John looks at me, then the box, then at me again. “Open it!”

“Ehhhhh,”

“Dave. Dave look at me.” I look at him. “I have seen you with my dick in your mouth. AND I’ve had your dick in my mouth. I think we’re close enough for you to show me your photos.”

I roll my eyes and open the box. “I made the closet at Bro’s place into a dark room. The closet in my old room.”

“You developed these yourself?”

“Yeah. I don’t usually show people.”

“Well, you can just show me your favorites.”

I sift through the pictures and pull out a few that I like. There’s some of rivers or ponds, some of the sky (mostly sunsets), some of trees… all that stuff. I also have some ironic selfies, but I won’t show those to John. As I go through the pictures, I almost laugh at some of them.

When I’ve picked my favorites, I give them to John.

“These look really good!”

“Thanks,”

He rests his head on my shoulders and looks through them again.

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

“I can’t draw for shit.”

“And yet you run a very popular webcomic. Isn’t that ironic.”

“That’s what I was going for.”

There’s silence for a minute.

“When’s sunset?” He asks eventually.

“Um…” I check the time on the clock next to my bed. “In about an hour and a half.”

“We should watch it on the roof. I remember, when we first met, we went up there and you said that we should see the sunset from up there. So, we should do that.”

“Whatever you want, Babe.”

“We should invite the others to come watch it with us. It can be my housewarming party.”

“Sure, let’s do it.”

We get up and put our clothes on and I text Rose to come over and bring Karkat. John texts Kanaya.

“You’re 21 now.” I comment. “Let’s get some champagne.”

“Ooh, you’re so fancy.”

“Well, it’s a housewarming tradition, which makes it ironic, sooo.”

“Okay, sure.”

“I’ll run by the store and get a few bottles and you wait outside for the others. Sound good?”

I take my truck and John waits on a little bench in front. I get two bottles and five champagne glasses and go back. Kanaya’s there, but we’re still waiting on the others.

“I brought blankets to sit on.” Kanaya smiles.

“Thanks, I hadn’t even thought of that.”

Soon enough, Rose and Karkat arrive. They stopped and bought a bottle of champagne to bring, too.

We sit in a circle on the roof at first so that it’s easier to talk. We let John pop the top off of the first champagne bottle and then pour it into everyone’s glasses. We need the second bottle to finish the distribution, though.

“Cheers to new friends.” Rose says cheerfully (get it).

We drink to that. We have enough champagne for everyone to have two glasses. John, the lightweight, is already a little tipsy when we regroup into a line facing the sunset. John and I sit on the right end, Kanaya and Rose sit on the left, and Karkat sits in the middle. I kiss John when the sun is finished setting.

“The sunset really is beautiful from up here.” Rose muses.

We stay up there for a while, just talking. But soon it gets too dark to see and we head down to my apartment.

Everyone leaves late at night. John and I snuggle together in bed.

“I’m glad I met you.” John whispers.

In that moment everything is good and warm and happy and that is such a stupid thing to think but it’s true. I might be a totally sap but I swear my heart melted when he said that.

“I’m glad I met you too.”

He makes a happy little sound and snuggles a little closer to me. And then we fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeyeyeyyeyee


	17. Summer Vacation!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well at this point its kind of just  
> slowly sending the fic off i guess  
> idk  
> but anyway, theres more smut in this chapter. I kind of feel bad about all the smut?? but i try to make it seem intimate rather than just sexual /// but yeah, of course, it will be announced!

I get a bed and furniture and set up my room, but Dave and I almost always sleep together. Not like that! I mean, sometimes we _do things_ but usually we just sleep. And we haven’t had actual sex yet. We just get touchy and, um, and little licky sometimes. So I’m still a virgin, and I’m still pretty scared to have sex.

But anyway! We set up a vacation with everyone—Dave, Bro, Rose, Mom, Jade, Grandpa, Nanna, Dad, Kanaya, Porrim, and me. Karkat had other plans and said he can’t come. We meet in Hawaii and rent 5 rooms in the same hotel. Dave and I share one together. Other than that, it’s Kanaya and Porrim (Porrim doesn’t know anyone else, so), Rose and Jade, Bro and Mom, and Dad, Nanna and Grandpa. We’re set to stay there for 5 days.

We’re about to get on the plane. We’re in the line to get our bags checked right now. Bro’s been super quiet because he’s half asleep. He’s leaning on Dave for support.

What I learned today is that Dave Strider is very impatient.

“I just don’t get why it takes so long. We got here 2 hours early, there are 6 checkers, and yet we’ve been in line for, like, 30 minutes.”

“It’s been 10 minutes, Dave.” Rose points out.

“Yeah, well, that’s still pretty long.”

“It’s really not.” I laugh, shoving him.

“You’re lucky you’re so cute, because otherwise I don’t know if I could put up with your shit.”

“Ew, you guys are gross.” Rose mocks.

“Rose, you’re just mad because your relationship is on the rocks.”

“What?” Kanaya asks.

“I’m just kidding, Maryam.”

“Shut up, Dave.” I tell him. “Your jokes don’t work when you’re grumpy.”

“Grumpy? I’m not grumpy, I’m the picture of relaxation.”

“Whatever you say.”

We get through the checking without a problem. Soon we’re at the gate, waiting. None of the little airport shops have anything good.

“How long until we board?” I ask, settling in to one of the crappy seats they have at the gate.

“45 minutes.” Rose answers. She’s been planning for this trip like crazy. I don’t think this would have worked without her.

“Kanaya, you haven’t met Jade, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Wow! I’m so excited. I wonder if they’ve left yet.”

“Their flight leaves an hour after ours.” Rose answers.

Dave whispers into my ear, “Jade will like me, right?”

“Yes, you idiot.” I turn my head and kiss him.

Rose suggests we play a game of cards, so we all, with the exception of Bro, sit on the floor and play an “ironic” game of Go Fish, then we play Spoons and Zucchini and then more Go Fish. Once they call the first group to go board, we stand up and wait until we’re called. Dave practically carries Bro to his seat.

Once we’re settled in, Rose takes out a book, Kanaya tries to sleep, Bro falls asleep with ease, and Dave and I talk.

“Are you nervous, Dave?” I slide my fingers into his.

“A little.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m meeting Jade and her Grandpa, and they’re like your family, right? And then I’m seeing your actual family again, and it’s another chance to fuck up.”

I kiss his cheek. “Don’t worry about that. I’m sure you’ll do fine. You’ll definitely get along with Jade, I’m sure of that. Pretty much all you have to do around my dad is swear less. You’re a good person, Dave. All you have to do is be yourself. That’s how you got me.”

He smiles. “Thanks, babe.”

I kiss his cheek again. “This is gonna be a really long flight. I’m going to try to sleep.”

“Me too.”

Dave and I both take half of a sleeping pill and try to get comfortable. We wake up when there’s about 2 hours left in our flight. Or, Dave woke up and then woke me up because he didn’t want to be the only one awake.

I yawn. “What time is it?”

Dave checks his phone. “11:23.”

“So if we get there at 1:30 Texas Time, that’ll be when Hawaii Time?”

“8:30 am.”

“Hm.”

Dave sighs. “I’ve never been to Hawaii. Have you?”

“Yeah, but I was too young to remember. Did you bring your camera? It’s supposed to be beautiful.”

“Yeah, I brought it.”

I make a pouty face. “I’m bored. I hate planes.”

“Did you bring any books?”

“Just one. I don’t feel like reading.”

“I’ll read to you.”

I smile. “Okay, sure.”

I take the book out of my carryon and hand it to Dave. He reads it to me, adding commentary and doing different voices for the different people. I can’t concentrate on the words, I’m too interested in his voice and the way his mouth moves.

Eventually, I just grab his face and kiss him midsentence. He puts the book on his lap and kisses back. We don’t stop kissing until Bro coughs and mutters “Get some.”

“Shut up, Bro.” Dave mutters half-heartedly.

The plane lands about 20 minutes after that. It takes a while to get out of the airport. We get to the hotel at 9:16 Hawaii Time. Jade’s waiting in the lobby.

She runs up to us and hugs Kanaya first. Kanaya almost falls over. Rose goes to check in for all of us while Bro, Dave, and I stand to the side and watch Jade and Kanaya.

“Kanaya! I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve ever seen you in person! You’re just as beautiful as you are in the pictures.”

“Thank you, so are you. I’ve been waiting to meet you for so long.”

“I know!” They stop hugging here. “Okay, where’s Dave?”

I push Dave forward but he barely moves.

“Dave, quit being a baby.” I whisper to him.

“I’m not—”

Jade spots him and practically jumps on him.

“Daaaaave! You really do look like Rose!”

“You look like John.” Dave mumbles, hesitantly hugging her back.

“Dave, are you hitting on me?”

“You wish.”

“Pshhh.” Jade leans back. “You really are handsome. Do you need your glasses inside?”

“His eyes are sensitive to light.” I explain.

“Aw, well, I’ll see your eyes at some point during this trip.”

“No you won’t.” Rose calls from the front desk.

She turns and hugs me. “I’ve missed you, John!”

“I missed you too! Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re in their rooms. I wanted to wait down here. Oh, hey!” She looks at Bro. “Who are you?”

“I’m Bro, Dave’s brother.” He sticks his hand out.

“Is your name actually Bro?”

“Nah, it’s Dirk but I prefer Bro.”

“Well okay! I’m Jade Harley.”

Rose walks over to us. “Okay, we’re checked in. Let’s go up.”

Jade hugs and greets Rose before we make our way upstairs. Kanaya waits downstairs for Porrim.

As soon as we walk in, Dave drops his bag. “I call the bed by the window.”

“You say as if we’re going to sleep in separate beds.”

He plops down onto the window bed. “All I’m sayin’ is that I’m sleeping here. I like window beds.”

I lay next to him and rest my head on his shoulder. “Yeah, this works.”

We lay there for a minute before he says, “Let’s check the view.”

We open the curtains. There are some short buildings and a couple tall ones in front, but there’s a clear view of the beach. The light outside is really bright right now but overall the view is beautiful.

Dave walks over to where he dropped his bags and kneels in front of it. I wait by the window while he grabs his camera. He messes with some settings and takes a couple pictures. Then he gets one of me looking out the window, without me knowing. It’s actually a really nice shot: I look all dramatic, my face is lit by the yellow-orange sunlight coming in through the window, and I look, well, I look okay. The pictures of the view look great, too, but Dave says the one of me is his favorite.

We’re sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the window, leaned up against each other when there’s a knock at the door. Dave gets up to answer it.

“Ms. Maryam got here. We’re going to go down to the beach.” Rose’s voice explains from the doorway.

“Cool.”

I get up and meet them in the doorway. Dave grabs a room key and we walk into the hallway with Rose, where everyone else is waiting.

“You’ve got more people to meet.” I tell Dave.

“Wonderful.”

Mom walks over to us and hugs me. “Johnnyyy. It’s been too long!”

“I know!”

She pulls away and turns towards Dave. “I met your brother! I just love him! Your name’s Dave, right?”

“Yup.”

“It’s good to meet you, Dave! My name’s Roxy, but you can call me Mom.”

“Likewise. I mean, it’s good to meet you. Not that you can call me mom, don’t do that. Um. You’re Rose’s mom, right?”

“Yeah, she’s my little angel.”

“Mom, stop.” Rose rolls her eyes.

Mom grins. “You’re dating John?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“You two are adorable! But, jeez, is anyone straight around here?”

Dave shrugs.

“Well this is just ridiculous.” She laughs. “I guess we better head to the beach now. I hope they sell cocktails down there.”

“ _Mom,”_ Rose whines.                                                         

We start walking towards the elevators. I hear Porrim talking to Kanaya. Her voice is deep and a little raspy. She has lots of piercings and tattoos. She looks really cool, but also pretty intimidating.

I take Dave’s hand as we walk. Rose joins Kanaya and Porrim in their conversation. Dad, Mom, and Bro are all talking. Nanna and Grandpa are walking slowly behind us. Jade pops up behind us.

“Hey guys!”

“Hi!”

Jade walks next to Dave. “When are you gonna show off your rap skills, Cool Guy?”

“I wasn’t aware that that was a thing that’s going to happen.”

“Well it is! John told me that you write your own songs!”

“It ain’t gonna happen tonight. If you find us a karaoke machine than I’ll happily strut my stuff.”

“There’s gotta be a karaoke joint around here somewhere.” I grin.

“Incredible.” Dave deadpans.

I laugh and shove him into Jade. Jade shoves him back twice as hard and I almost fall over.

In the elevator, I introduce myself to Porrim. Dave introduces himself too, and she fist bumps him.

I force Dave to introduce himself to Grandpa, too. Everything goes fine, and everyone likes Dave.

After we leave the hotel and start walking towards the beach, Dad takes me away from Dave to talk about how life’s going and if I’ve found work and how my relationship is going and et cetera et cetera et cetera... Dave talks with Rose, Jade, and Kanaya.

“Dad, really. Don’t even worry about me. If something goes wrong, you’re the first person I’ll call.”

“Well, it’s good to hear that. But I’ll keep worrying about you. I’m not sure if I can stop.”

“Okay, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too, John.”

On the beach, we go just far enough to avoid getting wet and sit. I take my shoes off and bury my feet in the sand.

“I love beaches.” I comment, watching the surfers in the ocean.

“I think the last time I went to one was when I was 10 or 11 when Bro took me to California.”

“Wow, that’s like forever ago.”

Dave takes his iPhone out of his back pocket and starts taking pictures of the ocean. I lean on him to look at the camera. He puts one arm around my back and rests his head on mine. After a couple more pictures, he turns on the front camera and take a picture of us before I can move away.

“It’s blurry, let’s take another one.”

I don’t protest, though I don’t really want to be in any pictures right now. We take, like, 20 and delete maybe half of them. There’s one really good one where we’re both looking at each other and smiling, me with my goofy wide smile and him with a little closed-mouth smile. You can see the reflection of the sun in his sunglasses. We look at that picture for a while before he goes back to the camera and kisses me. I hear the camera sound go off a few times as we kiss. He refuses to delete any of those pictures.

Once he puts his phone down, I kick my legs over his and wrap one arm around his neck for support. I use my other hand to play with his hair and touch his cheek.

“You’re pretty.” I tell him.

He smiles. “So are you.”

We kiss.

“I don’t know if you guys are cute or gross.” Jade comments as she walks behind us.

“Shut it, Harley.” Dave sneers without breaking the kiss.

We don’t spend too long at the beach. We stay until it’s time to find lunch. We go to a locally owned restaurant and talk about things like work and school. We talk a little bit about our plans for the trip, like when we’ll be doing or seeing certain things.

We walk around a bit after we finish eating, but we’re all pretty tired since we had to wake up early and the time difference is so far behind. We stay out for a couple more hours before going back to the hotel.

\----

_A/N: SMUT STARTS HERE_

I am so tired.

John went to go hang with the girls in Rose and Jade’s room while I decided to wait in our room. I lay on the bed by the window and think about nothing. I keep myself from falling asleep so I can be up when John comes back.

I hear him swiping the key card and turning the handle. I sit up as he walks in.

“You’re still awake?” He asks, sitting down on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off.

I wrap my arms around him and kiss the back of his neck. “Yep.”

He leans into my arms. “Mm… Good, because I wanted to try something.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I was thinking,” He runs his hands over my arms. “Well… You said you’ve never had any boyfriends, right?”

“Other than you, yeah.”

“Yeah, other than me. And you’ve never had sex with a boy, right?”

“No…?”

“Well, I think, if you’re ready, so am I.”

I pause, surprised. Once I gain back my breath, I say, “Yeah, I mean, sure. I’m ready.”

“Okay. Uh… Can I be the top?”

“Oh. Well,” I breathe out a laugh. “Sure, I guess.”

“Oh, good. I am _not_ ready to bottom.”

I move my arms and swing my legs off of the bed so that I’m sitting next to him. I grab his neck with one hand and pull him closer so I can kiss him. “Let’s do it.” I whisper.

I have to admit, I’m just as nervous as I was the first time I had sex. I slip out of my boxer briefs while John takes his clothes off.

John takes a deep breath. “What now?”

“It’s called foreplay.”

He rolls his eyes. I kiss his cheek and back up onto the bed. He follows and lays on top of me. His feet don’t quite reach my ankles. By now, we’re used to being naked near each other. He kisses me over and other again. My hands run up and down his back and through his hair before laying on his lower back.

John burrows his head into my neck. “I’m really nervous.”

“Me too.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve never had anyone’s junk in my trunk.”

“Ew.”

“Shut up, you baby.”

“Dave, you better reconsider what you just said. If I’m a baby, that means you want to have sex with a baby, and that’s not cool.”

“It’s ironic.”

“Eww! Dave!”

“Come on, I’m kidding.”

“I know.” He kisses my neck. “Hey, I don’t have any lube.”

“Um… Don’t hotels have little things of lotion in the bathroom?”

“I’ll go check.”

He rolls off of me and hops off the bed. Moments later, he comes back holding a little bottle.

“Found it!”

I sit up. He sets the bottle on the edge of the bed and crawls up to me, hovering above me, just close enough to kiss. I tangle one of my hands into his hair. He gently strokes my cock until it’s hard. At that point, he pulls away and sits back on his calves.

“Let’s do it.”

“You’re good to go?” I ask, looking down at his lap.

“Yeah, I am. Come on.”

He gets off the bed and picks up the lotion from where it fell on the floor. I scoot forward until my legs are off the bed.

“You sure you’re ready?”

“Yes, I’m sure! Are you?”

“Definitely.”

He smiles. He reaches out and takes my sunglasses off.

“Okay—um, here.” He grabs my legs by the part behind my knees. I help get my legs onto his shoulders. My lower body is lifted up off the bed. I lay back and try to look at John’s face.

“I think I’m supposed to start with my fingers.” He explains, squeezing lotion onto his index finger.

I tilt my head back onto the bed and try to ready myself. I gasp a little bit at the feeling of his cold, wet finger. It hurts more than I’d like to admit. His other hand grips my hip, helping me stay up. He pushes it slowly in and out and I find myself huffing with the movement. He pushes in another finger and I moan in response—but he’s going so _slow._

“Geez, John, what are you afraid of?” I ask between breaths.

“What? Do you think I should go faster?”

“ _Please_ , yes”

“Or would you rather me just…” He pulls both fingers out and I sigh at the loss. I look up to see him rolling a condom on.

“Yeah, that works too.”

I try to hide my nerves but I’m getting goosebumps and my hands are shaking so I don’t think it’s working. That’s the problem I have. I don’t get really nervous often, but when I do, it’s so painfully obvious.

“Ready?” He prompts, smirking slightly.

Am I? I think so. “Uh-huh.”

He takes a deep breath and pushes into me. I cover my mouth and moan into my palm. It hurts, a lot, but it also feels pretty good. I whine a bit due to the pain. John smiles and pushes in farther and rocks in and out, faster each time.  I move with him, humming each time he pushes in. Once he gets used to the movement, his hand wraps around my cock and moves to the rhythm of our bodies. He bites his bottom lip and lets out little moans. Well, they’re not all little. His face goes red _._ It doesn’t take him long to find my prostate, and when he does, I can hardly hold back my moan. It comes out as a strangled noise. I try to ignore how embarrassing that noise was. It seems like it might have motivated him, though, because he smirks, lets out a heavy chuckle-like breath, and speeds up. My body vibrates each time he hits it. I’m a complete mess by the time John says, “I’m close. Should—Should I pull out—or?”

“I don’t care,” I manage to get out before a moan. “I am too,”

He pushes a few more times before I cum onto my stomach with a loud moan. That must have pushed his over the edge because he blows inside of me, breathing my name.

I’m convinced that that’s the greatest thing in the world. Hearing the person you love moan your… Did I just say love??

_A/N: SMUT ENDS HERE_

He flops down next to me on the bed. My face feels hot and we’re both sweating and panting. We don’t talk for a couple minutes at least.

“Yeah,” John starts eventually. “I enjoyed that.”

“Me too.” I smile at him.

After a few minutes of looking at each other and panting, John gets up and turns the A/C on and get a towel to clean up. We sleep sprawled out on the mattress on top of the blankets.

Before I fall asleep, though, and after I’m sure that John’s asleep, I take out my phone and google, “how far into a relationship should you say i love you”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*~please leave nice comments they make my life~*~
> 
> <3


	18. Karaoke and Drunk Beta Kids (plus Kanaya)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More smut whoops  
> thats it for the fic though!!  
> okay yeah i hope you like

For the next couple days, I’m trying to find the right moment.

I almost say it when we go watch the sunset on the beach and we wander off from everyone else so I can take out my camera without the others seeing. John calls me dumb for not wanting them to know, but he comes with me anyway.

We don’t go back to the others after I finish taking pictures. We sit close and enjoy the beautiful night sky over the ocean and I forget that anyone else even exists.

When the sun is gone and the moon and stars come out, he starts pointing out stars that are brighter than others. Then he kisses me under the moonlight and I want to say it so badly, but the words catch in my throat. It doesn’t take long for Jade to run over and tell us we’re going to go back to the hotel.

On the third day we’re there, we actually go swimming. We stick around Rose, Jade, Kanaya, Porrim, Mom, and Bro in the ocean. Everyone else decided to stay on the sand. I don’t get John alone at all that day until we’re back in our room, and at that point we’re both tired from swimming and running around on the beach all day.

Jade knocks on our door early the next morning. And by early, I mean about 10:30 am.

“Just poppin’ in to say we found a karaoke place and we’re going there for lunch.”

I groan and John shoves my arm.

He grins. “Yay!”

“Put on nice clothes. When you’re ready, wait in the hall.”

Jade leaves.

 “Why nice clothes? I’ve never been to a _nice_ karaoke bar.” I ask, standing up and walking towards John.

“I don’t know. Quit whining, it’s gonna be fun!”

“I’ll try, just for you.”

“Gay.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

He laughs and wraps his arms around my neck. He kisses me. “You like that don’t you?” Kiss. “You totally like it.”

I hug him around his waist tightly. “Yeah, maybe I am a little gay.”

He smiles and we kiss again. “Okay, let’s get ready.”

I wear a gray button up shirt and dark jeans. John wears a short sleeved white button up shirt and khaki pants. He tries to make his hair look nice but, of course, he fails.

The walk to the karaoke bar is pretty long, but it’s not too tiring. We get a big table by the stage and order food and drinks. Bro scoffs when I order apple juice and I scoff when he orders his shitty orange soda. Mom orders a martini.

“Isn’t it a bit early for that?” Rose asks.

“Come on, we’re on vacation!”

Mom goes on stage first. After that, everyone pushes me to go on, and eventually I relent. I find a good song that I can sing with minimal effort and go with that. John goes right after me and sings “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith, and dedicates it to me. I can’t help but smile the entire time, and this is completely unrelated but shit kept getting in my eyes so I might have teared up a bit. I didn’t look away from the stage at all, but I could tell that people were looking at me.

There’s a lot of applause when he finishes. He hops off stage, slides into the booth, and kisses me. Everything’s so clear and wonderful and I decided that, yes, now’s the time.

“John?”

“Yeah?”

People are still looking.

“I love you.”

His eyes widen and everyone at our table goes quiet. Or maybe they don’t, but I don’t hear them anymore. I only concentrate on John’s face, looking for some sort of sign.

He gulps and blinks a couple times. “I love you too!”

We kiss again. Bro nods at me and that’s about the closest to saying “I’m happy for you,” he’ll ever get. I nod back.

Bro goes on and raps the shit out of everybody. We stick around to watch some strangers perform before leaving. We walk around the city for a while, looking in shops and stuff before riding a trolley back to our hotel.

“I’m only on here ironically.”  Bro says as we walk towards the back of the vehicle.

“Obviously.” I deadpan.

When we get back to the hotel, Jade, Rose, and Kanaya come over to our room wearing pajamas.

I answer the door. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything.” Rose begins.

“Nope, our sheets are clean. Well, the sheets on that bed.” I point to the bed away from the window. John throws a pillow at me.

Jade giggles. “Can we come in?”

“Sure.”

I grab the pillow off the floor and walk back to the window bed. Kanaya closes the door and sits on the other bed with Rose and Jade.

“So what brings ya here?”

“I thought we could have a sleepover!” Jade smiles. She’s sitting cross-legged and hugging a little stuffed squid thing.

“Cool!” John grins. “What should we do first?”

“We can paint our nails and make friendship bracelets.” I suggest. As soon as everyone’s looking at me, I whisper, “Irony.”

“I didn’t bring any nail polish.” Rose sighs.

“Me neither. I painted my nails before we left.” Kanaya adds, showing off her perfectly painted jade green nails.

“I don’t think I own any nail polish.” Jade chimes.

“Do we have any beads?” John asks.

The girls mutter ‘no’s.

“This sleepover is a failure already.” I deadpan, rolling onto my back and hanging my head over the edge of the bed.

“Do you think room service is still open?” Jade asks, grabbing the little menu from the night stand.

“Maybe, why?”

“We should order some alcohol and play drinking games!”

Room service _is_ still open and we order 3 bottles of tequila and some water.

“Let’s play Never Have I Ever!” Jade suggests once we’ve got our liqueur.

“I’m up for that.” I say. Everyone agrees and we sit on the floor between the beds in a tight circle.

“Do we have any shot glasses?” John asks.

“I bought one at one of the gift shops we stopped at today.” Jade hops up and takes a room key from Rose. “Be right back!”

I lean against the bed behind me. John’s hand slips into mine.

“Does tequila taste good?” He asks.

“Usually.” Rose answers.

There’s a knock at the door. Kanaya lets Jade in and they sit down. The shot glass is placed in the middle of our circle.

Jade leads the game. “Okay, so, it’ll be hard with just one glass but we’ll make do. Everyone knows how to play?” We all nod. “Alright. If you have done the thing, just put your hand up and we’ll pass around the shot glass. I’ll start! Never have I ever gotten oral.”

John and I exchange looks and so do Rose and Kanaya. John pulls our hands into the air. Rose and Kanaya giggle and raise their hands.

“I feel bad for you, Jade.” Rose teases, pouring the first shot.

“Well, at least I had sex before any of you. Maybe not Dave. John _still_ hasn’t had sex!”

I smirk and John laughs.

Jade gasps. “Really? Is this the gay agenda?”

“Oh no, we’ve been discovered.” Kanaya laughs before taking her shot. She pours the next one and gives it to John.

He squints after swallowing it down but says he likes it. I take my shot quickly.

“My turn,” Rose points out. “Unless we’re going counter-clockwise.”

“Whatever.” Jade shrugs.

“Um… Never have I ever slept in sunglasses.”

“Haha.” I fake laugh, reaching for the bottle. “Very clever, Lalonde.”

Kanaya raises her hand.

Rose raises her eyebrows. “Really?”

“I got drunk one night in high school, and Karkat gave me sunglasses and said I’d want them in the morning. And he was right.”

I high five her. She drinks after me.

“Okay… Never have I ever… went skinny dipping.” Kanaya plays.

No one raises their hand.

“What a crying shame.” I sigh. “We should go together one day.”

“That’s illegal, though.” John remarks.

“Not if it’s a private pool. Who here has a pool in their backyard? Anyone? No? Darn.”

“It’s your turn.” He pushes my arm.

“Alright. Hm… Never have I ever applied for college.”

Everyone drinks.

“My turn!” John beams. “Never have I ever been blonde.”

I roll my eyes, though no one can see, and raise my hand. Rose and Kanaya do, too.

“You have?” Rose asks Kanaya.

She chuckles awkwardly. “It was in middle school, for two weeks. It was horrible.”

I laugh and take my shot. “Got any pics?”

“I _did_ but I got rid of them.”

“My turn! Never have I ever had sex with a girl.” Jade looks right at Rose and Kanaya. Kanaya blushes and Rose smiles.

“Who’d have thought _you’d_ be the sexual one.” I comment as I raise my hand.

“All I’ve said is that I _haven’t_ done oral and _haven’t_ had sex with a girl.”

I wait for the girls to finish and take my shot. “Yeah yeah, wait till you go off to college.”

“Never have I ever had sex with a boy.” Rose counters. Everyone other than Kanaya drinks.

We go on like this until we’re drunk and out of booze. John ends up on my lap, facing me, gripping my face somehow.

“I like, really love you.” He slurs.

“I love you too.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t say it sooner. I love you.”

“I love you too, John.”

Jade pulls John back by his shirt.

“This is no time to be sen… senditemple. Is that right?”

“Sentimental?” Rose asks.

“Yes!” Jade shouts. “Now’s not the time. We’er goin’ to dance nar. I mean, now.”

“I’m not. I’m not dance.” John shakes his head.

John and Jade don’t handle liqueur well, apparently.

“ _Yes_ you are.” Jade pulls John up. “Do we has music?”

“I’ve got iTunes.” I offer, taking out my phone. I put all of my music on shuffle.

Jade and John dance around like idiots. I sit with Rose and Kanaya on the floor. We didn’t drink less than the others, but it’s definitely affecting them more.

Eventually, John forces me to dance with them. Rose and Kanaya join, too. We act like idiots until somehow we fall asleep, some of us on the floor, some on a bed or chair. We’re all a little hungover in the morning, but it’s not that bad. The adults notice, I think.

 

“Ow,” I mutter. I drank my coffee too soon and burned my tongue. It’s not long, though, until I take another sip and settle with the kind-of-too-hot temperature because if I don’t get this caffeine in me soon I’ll fall asleep.

“I still don’t think you should drink that.” John comments. He’s sitting next to me in a taxi van with Rose, Kanaya, and Bro.

“Yeah, I get it. I’ll want to sleep on the plane. But my eyes are ready to shut and I’d rather not fall asleep standing up in a line.”

“Alright, but I won’t stay up with you.”

I look at John over my sunglasses. “What happened to that song you sang for me at the karaoke place?”

He makes a frustrated face. “You got me. I’ll try to stay up.”

I ruffle his hair. “That’s what I thought.”

He kisses my cheek. “Can I have a sip?”

I give him the cup. We share the rest of the coffee.

John and I are sitting in the middle row of seats. Rose and Kanaya are sitting close to each other and whispering back in forth in the very back. Bro sits in the passenger seat and talks to the cab driver.

Everyone else had to go to the airport earlier. We were gonna go with them, but I took way too long getting ready and they had to leave. We got to say our goodbyes, though, while I only had pants and one sock on. Tears were shed, and it was really saddening to watch.

The plane ride is long and boring. John does try to stay up with me, and we spend possibly an hour looking at each other’s faces and kissing without saying a word. But eventually, he does fall asleep. It takes a while, but I do too.

When we get home, I’m not tired at all. Neither is John.

“I’m gonna take a shower.” John announces after we walk in.

“Think of me.” I fall onto the couch.

“Pft.” He walks into the bathroom but sticks his head out of the door before closing it. “I always do.”

I turn to look at him but the door’s already shut. I smirk and turn on the TV.

_A/N: SMUT STARTS HERE_

He walks out while I’m in the kitchen looking for food. I hear the door open and close but I don’t turn to look at him.

“Hey,” He greets from behind me in a sweet voice.

I turn to see him sitting on the counter naked with his legs spread a little bit. My mouth drops for a second before I laugh.

Walking towards him and draping my arms around his torso, I grin, “What are you doing?”

“I thought of you,” He smiles. “And I thought, why think when you can do?”

I kiss him, smiling. What an idiot. He pulls at the bottom of my shirt until I pull it off. I lean close to him, close enough to feel his dick on my stomach. I lay kisses on his neck and by his ear.  I nuzzle my head into his neck and suck on his skin as he awkwardly tries to unbutton my pants. I refuse to help him. He makes frustrated noises every few seconds until he finally does it. “Ha!”

I back up enough to kick my pants off. He lays his hand against my chest when I try to walk back to him.

“Underwear. Off.”

“You wanna get this done quick, don’t you?” I obey anyway.

“Glasses too.”

I take them off and roll my eyes for show. He takes them from me and puts them on over his regular glasses. I laugh at him. Smiling, he reaches for my neck and pulls me close to him. His legs wrap around my waist and he pulls himself closer to me. I feel him smile as we kiss.

By now, both of us are hard and I’m craving something.

“What do you want to do?” I whisper into his lips.

“I want you,” he jumps to shift his position so that his back is curled and he’s resting on his lower back. “Ow…” He mumbles.

“Wait, you want me to—”

He kisses my ear. “Yes!”

“Like—”

“Yes, oh my god.”

“Okay,” I lean back. “I need to go get the lube and a condom.”

 “Hurry!”

I jog into the bathroom and grab what I need. I get back to the kitchen and start getting lube onto my fingers.

When I put my first finger in, John jumps and my glasses almost fall off of him. He quickly pushes them back up.

I start slow. He just sorta looks down at my hand and bites his lip. Then I add another finger, and his breath starts picking up and he looks at me more.

“Does it hurt?” I ask.

“Yes, but, I’m fine. I like it. Now?” He requests as I start getting faster.

“Yeah? Now?”

“Mhm!”

I take my fingers out and he sighs.

“Uh, let’s see,” I mutter. I put the condom on easily, then I start rubbing lube all over it. He kisses around my neck and jawline until I tell him, “I’m done.”

He lets out a breath. “Okay! I’m ready.”

Tentatively, I push my tip in and he winces. Slowly, I slide in more, then back out, then go back in, farther this time. He gasps and moans into my ear and urges me on by bucking his hips. I go in completely and he shouts, “OH JESUS, oh Dave, what was that??”

“Good feeling?”

He sighs. “Yes,” His head rests on my shoulder.

“That’s your prostate.”

“Keep going!!”

I push in and out and he rocks with me. I’ve given up any sense of dignity that might include holding back moans. I get a little faster, but not too fast. Our breathing is uneven, our hearts are pounding. John tries to kiss around my ear but with the movement and the heavy breathing it’s really just messy. My hand moves from his hips to his dick. I lightly pump him to get him somewhere. Wouldn’t it be great if we climax at the same time and I crash my lips into his to stop him from moaning? Yeah, let’s make that happen.

“T-Tell me when you’re close.” I breathe. My voice sounds quiet and forced between panting but John nods quickly before letting out this really loud moan that drives me crazy. “You’re so hot,” I kiss the front of his neck and he smiles.

It doesn’t take too much longer until I’m holding my cum in, waiting for John’s cue, and he stammers, “N-now, it’s hap-happening now.”

“1…2…3,”

Just as he opens his mouth to moan or scream or shout I push my lips against his forcefully and I feel a release. He whines into my mouth. Something hot and sticky hits my chest but I ignore it and keep kissing John. He kisses back for a long time before our lips part.

I shift awkwardly to get my cock out of him without leaving his arms. His lips and tongue grace my jawline as we sigh and melt into each other. His legs fall from around my waist and he slumps against me. I smile, knowing that he’s not looking.

“I can’t,” He whispers into my neck. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

“Well believe it, sister, because I hope that wasn’t the last time.”

He pulls away enough to look at me, and he’s smiling. “I don’t think it will be. God, my butt hurts.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” 

We clean up. It doesn't take long.

_A/N: SMUT JUST ENDED_

“Let’s go lay down.” John suggests. It’s not late enough to sleep, but laying down really does sound nice.

Without thinking twice, I pick him up bridal style and carry him into my room. His hands cup my neck and cheek and he just looks at me with such a loving look and, god, everything is good right now. This is a great moment.

“I want a picture of you making that face. Bonus points if you’re naked in my arms.” I tell him as I kick open the door.

“If you get your hands on a picture like that, I want one too.”

I smile and imagine a world where there’s a little picture I keep in my wallet that I can look at whenever I’m sad and that picture features the John Egbert that is in love with me.

I carefully lay him onto the bed and lay next to him. We kiss softly.

“I love you.” John smiles gently.

“I love you too. So much.”

“I don’t know if this is the right time to get all emotional, but… I’m so happy we met. You’re amazing. I love you, I love being with you, I love that you can be a dorky idiot but also be cool, I love the way you joke about things, I love your eyes, and oh, I’m still wearing your sunglasses.” He takes them off and looks me in the eye. “I love your hair and cheekbones and freckles and the fact that your brother’s crazy and your relationship with him is so funny. I don’t know why I’m rambling, but there are a lot of things I love about you.”

I don’t notice that the bottom of my eyes are dampening until John smiles and wipes them gently.

“Well, I love being with you too. I love that you look incredibly dorky and act all dumb but you’re actually pretty down to earth and definitely more put together than I am. I love that you play piano. I love that you get along with people so well.” I smirk. “I love that your hair just does its own thing, all the time. I love that you bite your lip. I love your laugh and how you’re open with your emotions. I love _your_ eyes, your beautiful blue eyes with your dark eyelashes and dorky glasses. I love that you’re more muscular than me. I love that your dad’s a businessman and your nanna’s a prankster and that both of them bake. I—”

John’s like legitimately crying, a lot, and I don’t really know what to do other than wipe his cheeks.

“I like you more than I’ve liked anyone else, ever.” He says, squinting.

I kiss his nose. A soft, silent moment passes before either of us talk.

“Do you believe in fate?” John asks all of a sudden.

“I haven’t thought much about it.”

“What I’m thinking is, sometimes people meet because they’re coworkers and they just fall in love. The only ultimate decision that says they're gonna meet is hiring them both into the same office or whatever. That’s just one thing, it’s easy enough to ignore fate there, right?”

“Sure.”

“Yeah, but with us, there were a lot of factors. My plane could’ve arrived ten minutes later, you could have left earlier, or later… if you had worn a hat I wouldn’t think you were Rose. And I was so close to just getting into that line of people waiting to get a taxi outside of the airport. Actually, I did get in the line, but it was long, so on a snap decision, I decided to walk over to the plaza next to the airport. Do you see what I mean?” I nod. “But everything worked just the way it should’ve. And now I’m really, really happy. I was already happy, but now I have you, too. I don’t think any other possible outcome of that day could’ve been better. Even if, like, Liv Tyler was in the plaza.”

“I’m very flattered.”

He smiles. “I don’t know why I’ve been thinking so much about this.” He kisses me. “I love you.”

“Love you too, babe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got no comments on the last chapter tsk tsk time to make up for that


	19. Double Gay Wedding

Things have been great. I’m not sure if they can be much better.

A little over 2 years have passed since I started dating Dave. Since then, lots of things have changed. Rose, Kanaya, and Karkat graduated college about 3 months ago. We all moved to New York, close enough to New York City to visit there regularly, but far enough away that we don’t have to deal with tourists and noisiness and all that. Rose got a job quickly as a psychiatrist. She’s doing good, making lots of money. Kanaya is moving up as a fashion designer. She’s designing for H&M right now, but she’s hoping she’ll be able to move up to runway designing one day.  Karkat’s working in retail at the moment, using his free time to write his first book. Jade’s still in college, but she’s visiting for the summer, along with Dad, Mom, and Bro.

Dave and me? We’ve been performing together. That’s our real, actual job now. Back in Texas, we started doing those concerts (yes, we did perform together with Dave in a sparkling red dress. We kissed on stage and fucked in his car.). We started getting more popular, and after a while, we were able to raise enough to record a CD. We wrote a couple songs together, but Dave did most the writing. It wasn’t all rap, and I even got to sing some! I mostly supplied the tune, though. We call our band Movie Knight. We got real popular after that, we were all over the internet, we started getting requests to perform places, and we even got ourselves a record deal. After going viral, Ellen invited us to her show. That was so great, oh my god. It was surreal. We’ve talked about doing some touring sometime in the future, but it won’t be soon.

Rose and Kanaya live together in a house not far from ours. We both have fairly large homes, and it’s really nice. Karkat lives in a small but nice condo a little farther away. 

Kanaya proposed to Rose before they finished college. I wasn’t there, but Rose said it was beautiful. They haven’t started planning their wedding yet, though. Dave says there might still be hope for a double gay wedding.

Dave… Dave and I are so happy together! It took way too long, but he finally accepts that I love him just as much as he loves me. If I suggest I love him more, though, he’ll just laugh until I give up.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Babe.”

“I love you more.”

“HAH,” He fakes a silent laugh. He really knows how to kill the mood. He wipes under his eye as if he was crying. “Shit, man, it’s just as funny as the first time.”

He’s more open with his emotions, too. A lot more. There was one night when we talked about our families, particularly my mom and his parents, when he bawled his eyes out and leaned on me and he said that was the first time he’s cried like that in decades.

Anyway, everything’s great. Jade says she wants to move to New York when she’s done with college to live near us. In a perfect world, all of my loved ones will live here with me. Maybe one day.

Yeah, so, right now, we’re getting ready for a party at Rose’s house. Not a _party,_ but a get together where we have to dress nice. She doesn’t tell me why.

Dave and I get dressed in separate rooms. I walk out in a nice shirt and my nicest jeans, only to have Dave stride in, full suit and tie.

“She meant nicer, Hun.”

I stand up from where I was sitting on the couch and walk over to him. Playing with his nice red tie, I smile up at him. “How do you know, cool kid?”

“Because I know. Trust me.”

“Yeah, okay.” I step up on my tiptoes and kiss him. “You really look great in a suit.”

“Thanks. Play your cards right and you’ll get to see it off.”

“Ooh, your birthday suit.”

“Go change or we’ll be late.” He smacks my butt when I turn around.

I put on my dark teal suit with my light green tie. Dave laughs at first but tells me I look sharp.

“Come on, let’s go.” I grab his hand and lead him out the door. We take my car, a shiny blue convertible. 

We walk arm-in-arm up to Rose’s door. She’s wearing a nice yellow dress and orange lipstick.

“Come in,”

Everyone looks so nice! Jade, Dad, Mom, Bro, Karkat, and Kanaya are all there, in the living room, talking amongst themselves. They greet us as we take a seat on the only chair open, a small loveseat barely big enough for both of us.

“Will you tell me why I had to wear this suit now?” I’m filled with curiosity. She told us about the party almost a week ago, and never told me!

“It’s a surprise, John.” She grins and sits on the floor with Kanaya.

We have some food and talk a lot. Time flies, and all of a sudden, Rose announces that it’s time for champagne.

“Champagne?” I ask suspiciously.

“John, you’re going to ruin it.” She rolls her eyes. I shrug and take a glass.

Dave’s heart rate picks up, I notice, when he grabs his drink. I don’t say anything, but secretly the suspense is killing me. It’s gotta be coming soon, right?

Dave clears his throat. “Okay, if I can just say a few words…Or kind of a lot of words…”

“Go ahead.” Kanaya urges. I don’t think anyone knows except Rose and possibly Dave.

He stands up and turns towards me at an angle. I smile at him.

“I should take these off, I guess,” He reaches up and pulls his glasses off. I’m surprised, because there are other people around, but it seems like he’s not really focused on that.

He takes a deep breath. “John, you’ve made my life so much better. Every day, I wake up next to you, and remember how wonderful you are. I was so lonely. But you came into my life and now I’ve got friends, and most importantly, I have you. You are everything to me. I, I can’t even tell you how much I love everything about you. I can make up a list if you want, but damn you’d never have time to read all that. John, I’ve never really believed in fate.” He gets down on one knee and pulls a small box out of his suit jacket. My eyes widen. “But, when we met, it was like the planets aligned and the clouds opened up and everything was just as it needed to be. I don’t know if my life can get much better, but it would be great if you put this ring on your finger and spend the rest of your life with me.”

I stare down at him and wipe my eyes quickly. A hundred ways to say “yes” flash in my mind but I just nod over and over again and smile and cry. He slips the ring onto my finger and stands up to hug me. I kiss him, not really planning to stop. Everything around us disappears. I’m completely elated, trying to get as close to him as possible. This goes on until my dad interjects, “I’m so proud,”

I laugh and pull away just enough to look at Dave. “I love you, Dave, I love you so much.”

He just smiles and kisses me.

When I look over at everyone else, they’re crying. Well, Kanaya is dabbing her eyes with a tissue, Karkat is pretending he doesn’t feel the tears roll down his cheek, Rose is smiling gently as her eyes water, Mom is in hysterics, Dad is just sort of watching with this dumb expression on his face like he’s almost crying, and Bro is looking away and suspiciously wiping under his pointy glasses.

It’s quiet for a minute before Rose wipes her cheeks and says, “Congratulations, you two. You’re a perfect couple.”

“Double gay wedding,” Dave whispers in my ear. I giggle.

Dave lets me go. Bro gestures him over and mutters something into his ear. I hope it’s something nice. Dad gives me a hug and repeats that he’s proud of me and tells me to keep him updated on wedding plans.

We get congratulations and hugs from everyone. We stick around at Rose’s house until it gets really late. Dave and I leave and drive back to our house.

We’re barely in the house before he pushes me against a wall. He kisses me deeply, moving his tongue over my lips and mouth. I try to keep up with him. I whine into his mouth and he pulls away, only to kiss all over my neck and ear and jaw. “We’re going to get married,” He whispers into my skin.

His forearms arm resting on the wall on either side of my head and he’s leaning so that his head is level with mine. I curl one hand into his hair as he presses his lips to my skin. He lightly bites and sucks my skin and I squirm. My other hand claws at his lower back, trying to pull him closer to me, but he doesn’t budge.

“Damn it, Dave, come on.” I mumble into his hair.

He chuckles and shifts his position so that he’s standing right in front of me. I wrap my arms tightly around his neck and jump up. He catches me easily and leads me to the couch where he throws me down and lays on top of me. We kiss a few times before I just smile at him.

“Dave, never leave.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He leans his head down and kisses me.

I spread my legs out so he can lay in between them. We kiss and kiss and it heats up and we fuck on the couch. Then we fall asleep there while talking about the possibility of a double gay wedding.

 

We propose the idea to Rose and Kanaya a couple days later, and they wholeheartedly agree. It all reminds me of that time when Dave showed up at my house and I simply couldn’t resist the Strider Charm any longer, when he first mentioned anything about a double gay wedding.

Kanaya does design the outfits. All except Rose’s. She sews dresses for the bridesmaids and suits for the groomsmen. I can’t see Dave’s outfit until Day of. We decide that, because Dave proposed, I’ll be the one walking down the aisle. Likewise for Rose. Our Maid of Honor will be Jade, and the other bridesmaids are Terezi and Calliope. Best Man is Karkat. Bro insisted that he be a groomsmen, too.

We invite lots of people, family members we haven’t seen in a while, old friends, all that good stuff. We don’t do a lot for the bachelor and bachelorette parties. We really just get together with good friends and go out to a club. We don’t even split up, just me, Rose, Kanaya, and Dave hanging out like any other night.

The night before the ceremony, Kanaya sleeps at our house and I sleep at their house. Just to secure good luck, we don’t want to see each other at all until the wedding.

Rose and I spend the night watching movies and messing around. She also trims my hair just a bit. We go to sleep early to make sure we look on point tomorrow. Hehehe!

Anyway, in the morning, I feel like I might explode! Biggest day of my life right here. Marrying the gorgeous and amazing Dave Strider. Walking down the aisle with my dad and Rose and Mom. Holding a bouquet (ironically) and wearing the nicest suit I’ve ever seen in person, designed by the one and only Kanaya Maryam, who will also be getting married. Oh man!

Rose and I spend a minute or two freaking out together before we head to the church where we’re supposed to get ready. Karkat, Jade, and Terezi are helping Rose and me, while the others help Dave and Kanaya. I’m sure they’d be fine just with Kanaya, but, the bridesmaids and groomsmen need something to do!

I get into my incredibly nice and well-tailored black suit and put on a red tie, because it’s Dave favorite color. Rose puts on a gorgeous white dress, thin sleeves hanging of her shoulders, mermaid skirt with a long slit in the fabric, a long veil, a long train hanging from her waist, and little patterns in the fabric. With help from Rose, we get my hair styled nicely, not exactly neat but it looks good. Rose wears jade green lipstick and green shoes. Her hair is pulled back into a small bun. She looks stunning.

“Rose, you look so gorgeous.”

“Thank you, John. You look amazing, too.” She takes both of my hands in hers and says, “I glad that I have you to walk down the aisle with me.”

“I’m glad to have you too! Gosh, I might trip. You better catch me.”

“If anything, it’ll be me tripping. It’s hard to walk with a giant piece of fabric trailing you from behind.”

I smile and open my arms to hug her.

“Mom and Dad should be here soon.” She states. They’ll be the ones ‘giving us away.’

When they do get there, that means it’s time for the bridesmaids and best man to leave.

“Oh, gosh, you guys! I’m so happy for you!” Jade hugs us both. “You both look amazing.”

Karkat hugs us, too. “Yeah, what she said.”

Terezi smiles widely and pulls us into a group hug. “Bye! I’ll smell you soon!”

Karkat takes her arm and leads her out of the room.

“Are they a thing yet?” I ask Rose. She shrugs.

We focus on our breathing until we hear _Here Comes the Bride_ playing from the altar. I grab Dad’s arm and Rose take’s Mom’s. One final deep breath and we’re in the aisle, walking slowly towards our dashing fiancés.

Dave is wearing a nice red suit, and his glasses are off, and we make eye contact. He looks so beautiful, I want to run up there and kiss him but I just smile and keep at the same pace. His tie is white. Kanaya’s dress is a halter top with a huge puffy skirt. She wears purple lipstick.

My eyes train on Dave’s. He smiles at me and I smile back. Dad lets go of my arm as I step up next to Dave and face him. My smiles grows wider and his does, too. This doesn’t feel like a real thing that’s happening, it feels like a beautiful dream. But it’s not, it’s a beautiful reality.

The priest goes through the speech, the ring bearer brings the rings (The ring bearer is Porrim). And we say our vows. The ladies go first, and they’re so full of love and commitment and they’re written so well that I almost cry listening. But then I’m up right after, so I resolve to suck it up until Dave starts talking. I talk about the little things I love about him, the ways he’s made my life better, how when we’re not together I think only of him, how I hope we never spend another moment apart, how even when we fight I love him, and how just the thought of him existing is enough to brighten my day, and the thought of him marrying me could get me through the toughest of moments. He doesn’t even try to hide his tears. He talks about when we met and he knew he wanted to talk to me more, and he brought back memories of Bro daring us to kiss, of playing together in the music store and watching the sunset after, the airport that day when he kissed me, showing up at my house, moving in together, going to Hawaii, performing together, making a CD, going on Ellen, all these amazing memories that have my giggling and smiling. Then he looks at my softly and says that through all this he’s only found reasons to love me more. He says he’s never felt so close to someone before. He says that I make him feel so good about himself. He says he never, ever wants to leave. He promises that if any issue comes up he’ll solve it, no matter what. He says he never dreamed he’d end up with someone as perfect as me. I cry like an idiot. When the priest says we may kiss, I throw myself onto Dave and kiss him with all the love I can muster.

The reception is held at a ballroom that we rented out. There’s food and music and cake (compliment of my Dad) and everyone’s having a good time. Then, the music slows down and it’s time for the first dance.

Dave and I find each other easily and he grabs my waist and pulls me close to him. The smile on his face seems permanent.

“I’m not very good at dancing,” I place my hands on his shoulders. He takes one of them into his left hand.

“It’s a good thing you have me.” He slowly starts moving his feet to the slow rhythm of the love song playing. It’s only us, Rose, and Kanaya on the floor.

I start to get the hang of the footwork. Dave squeezes my hand and pulls me away to twirl me and pull me back in to where my back is face him. He kisses my neck and swings me around.

“Dave, you’re really good at this.”

“Thanks. I learned when I was a kid.”

He swings me out again. I’m pretty much just following his lead. As the end of the song gets closer, Dave spins me one more time but this time he catches me halfway to the ground and kisses me right as the song ends. They play another slow song, but this time we’re both stolen away by distant relatives who want to dance and catch up.

When they start playing dance music again, Dave and Bro stride into the center of the floor and the do the robot for the entire song. It’s perfectly synchronized, except for those moves where one robot is stuck so the other robot needs to push the one that’s stuck back into dance mode. It’s hilarious, but also impressive. Afterward, we find Rose, Jade, Kanaya, Karkat, Terezi, and Calliope and dance like idiots together in a small circle. We’re careful not to fuck up our clothes.

Dave grabs my hand and leads me away from the others in the middle of a song. We stand by the wall where no one is dancing. He cups my cheek and kisses me. I pull him closer with my free hand.

He stops kissing me just long enough to whisper, “I love you.” I just press myself against him and squeeze his hand.

Soon, it’s time for speeches. We sit at the long table with the Maid of Honor and Best man. I sit next to Rose and Dave, Dave sits next to Jade, and Kanaya sits next to Rose and Karkat.

“Okay! Speech time!” Jade stands up and taps her glass with a butter knife. “Everyone, listen up! I have known Rose and John forever. I met them in grade school. They’ve always been there for me, and I’ll always be there for them. I met Dave and Kanaya at the same time, about 2 and a half years ago. I knew from the way my friends looked at them that they can be trusted! We’ve always been very close, so a person they love is a person I love, ya know? Anyway, my intuition was right. Dave and Kanaya are some of the best people I’ve ever met, second only to Rose and John, of course. I know I can trust them, which is good, because if you ever hurt Rose or John… Well, I’m sure you already know. Anyway, I wish all four of you the happiest of lives together, and I’m so, so happy you found each other. You’re all perfect. I love you guys! Speech equals over.”

There’s a short amount of applause and we all hug Jade. Now, it’s Karkat’s turn.

He stands up. “Okay, uh. Kanaya has been my best friend since I can remember. She’s been really great, and I love her. Um. Rose, we met like four and a half years ago, right? We lived together in that apartment. Even though you can get pretty annoying with your psychoanalyzing bullshit, you’re pretty awesome. You and Kanaya are a great couple. John and Dave. John, you’re an idiot but I like you. Dave, you’re still a douchebag, but you’re cool. You and John are cute together. I’m really bad at speeches, sorry, but I hope you all live happily ever after, ‘cause you deserve it.”

We hug Karkat. He gets applause too. After that, Rose and I throw our bouquets. Terezi catches one and Dave’s Aunt catches the other.

There’s some more dancing. I meet Dave’s distant family, or the ones who came, anyway. Those people are an aunt and her current boyfriend, an uncle, and 3 cousins. My dad was an only child, so only Dad and Nanna came from my family. I invited more old friends than Dave did, though.

My old friends from school all kind of stick together because they don’t know anyone. They were all really surprised to hear that I’m marrying a guy, they say they remember Hannah and how they'd make fun of me for always saying that I’m straight. It’s really good seeing them again. One of them says that they bought the album Dave and I made together after seeing us on Ellen.

I meet some of Kanaya’s family, too. And her old friends. It’s cool being around all these people. The food is great and the cake was really big and yummy! Dave and I were being corny and fed each other the cake. I even put some frosting on his nose and kissed it off.

The wedding is amazing, and when we’re done saying goodbye and thanking everyone, we take the presents back to our house and set them down without opening them. We grab our already packed suitcases and go back to the limo with the cans tied to strings on the back along with a sign that says, “Just Married!” Then we’re off to the airport for our honeymoon.


	20. Honeymoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long notes at the end. For now, I will say this: there is very mild smut, well, more like heavily suggestive themes. I'm not going to announce it because I don't exactly see the need, but I'm warning you now, I guess?? I think you should read it bc its cute ok //  
> <3

Dave and I go to Paris for our honeymoon. Rose and Kanaya chose Turkey. We’re set to stay there for a week.

When we get there, we check in, get our bags to our room, and head out to wander around the hotel’s lobby so we know where everything is. We go back up to the room afterward and unpack.

I’m hanging stuff up in the closet when I feel something hit my shoulder.

“What.” I turn around. Dave looks at me for a second before turning back to his suitcase.

I crouch down and pick up what he threw at me. It’s a little bottle of cherry flavored lube with a winky face in sharpie on the cap. I laugh and Dave turns around.

“What’re you laughing at, Punk?” He grins.

“Why would it even need a flavor if it’s just going in my butt?”

“Are you volunteering to bottom?”

I throw the bottle at him. “We’ll switch off.”

He smiles and goes on packing.

When I’m done, I grab the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bottles and announce, “I’m gonna go take a shower.”

“How long?”

“You’ve seen it before.”

He looks at me questioningly before it sinks in and he laughs. I smirk.

“No, how long are you gonna take? I want to take one soon.”

“I don’t know. Just come in with me.”

“I’m not done unpacking.”

“Suit yourself,” I turn around and walk into the bathroom, leaving the door open as I start to strip. It only takes a few seconds for Dave to get up and join me.

I’m in the shower before he is but I wait to put shampoo in my hair. Dave says that’s his favorite part of showering with me. What a loser.

I do get the water to the right temperature and stand under it until Dave gets in. He wraps his arms around my waist and I turn around to kiss him. I hang onto his arms because the bathtub is slippery!

He grabs the shampoo and starts working it into my hair. I giggle at him because he’s smiling like a dork but he’s so cute! Aww. He makes my hair into a mohawk like he always does.

“You’re _such_ a dork.”

“You’ve told me that about a million times.”

“Still true.”

“Yeah sure.” He tilts my head back into the water and washes the shampoo out.

“Bluh the water’s getting in my eyes.”

“Then close them, dummy.”

“Did you really just call me a dummy?”

“Yes,” He tilts my head up and kisses me. I hug him around his waist and pull him closer, but he almost trips and we both laugh.

“Your turn!” I carefully waddle around him and he gets under the water. He bends his knees so that I can ruffle his hair comfortably. I start running the shampoo through his hair after he steps in front of the water. I stick his hair up all over the place and play with it much longer than I need to. I grin and push him back under the water. He would’ve fallen if he didn’t hit the wall. Quickly, he gets the shampoo out of his hair and grabs both of my arms, spins me around, and pushes me against the wall. The water is pretty much falling right onto his head, so like the sweet, caring boyfriend—I mean husband (!!) I am, I laugh at him. His solution is leaning forward and kissing around my shoulder and neck and ear and jawline. I snake my arms around his back and try to bring him closer to me. He stays put for a few seconds before pushing himself completely against me, which is funny because if I don’t look up, I’m just staring at his collar bones. I lay kisses across his right clavicle, then lick it once before biting it. He squirms a little bit. Success!

He backs up just a little bit. His hand goes to my chin and tilts my head up. I stand on my toes so I can reach his lips. While we kiss, I buck my hips, still hugging his back. We start grinding together underneath the water until our hearts are beating fast and we’re both hard.

To my surprise, he kneels under the water in front of me.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do _you_ think I’m doing?” He lightly grips my hip bones.

I roll my eyes. “Okay, I know what you’re doing. But don’t you want to actually fuck?”

“Nah, I mainly just want to suck your dick right now.” He grins. It’s blurry without my glasses, but I just _know_ he looks sexy. “No homo.”

I laugh. “Of course not. Never homo. When we got married, nope, no homo.”

His smile grows a little bit. “We’re totally married.”

“I know.” I smile widely.

He does the thing, I give him a quick handie, and then we finish getting clean and get out of the shower.

We put some clothes on because it’s cold and lay together on the bed. He’s on his back with an arm around my waist and the other holding my hand. I’m on my side next to him with my head on his shoulder, one arm under me and one on his stomach (where our hands are) and one leg kicked over his. We talk about nothing for a few minutes before I hesitantly say, “I want kids.”

It takes him a couple seconds to reply. “Then let’s get us some kiddies.”

I laugh. “No, Dave, there’s a lot we have to talk about first.”

“Like what?”

“Well, we have to be financially ready, and mentally, and physically. I’ve been thinking a lot about going on tour, which I want to do, but if we have a baby then we can’t until they’re older, like 10 or something, and by then we might not be popular anymore. Maybe we can tour for like a year, then have a baby. I think that would be best because then we won’t have to worry about that on the tour, so we can just be awesome and have tons of fun.”

“Yeah, sure. Sounds great. We’ll talk to our agent when we get back and see how many places we can hit.”

“What if we put out some new material before we tour?”

“Okay, like how much?”

“3 or 4 songs. Just to get our fans pumped. We’ll put them on Youtube and iTunes, and we can make a video talking about the tour coming up.”

“Sure, let’s do it.” He pauses. “When we get back from tour, do you want to adopt or get a surrogate?”

“Well, I think the surrogate would be cooler, but I also kind of want to adopt so that those kids can get a home, you know what I mean? I want them to be young, though.”

“How about we find a good surrogate who will stick around for two kids, and then after that we can adopt some more.”

“How many kids do you want?”

He smiles a little bit. “I’ve always wanted, like, 4 or 5.”

“Okay.” I cuddle closer to him. “After the tour, we’ll have lots of money, right? We have enough money for children, right?”

“Oh yeah. We’re way better off than my parents were when they had me and Bro.”

“Okay. Are we physically ready?”

“Are you asking if I can carry a baby?”

I laugh. “No, like, do we have the time and energy to take care of a baby.”

“Yeah, I think so. We can write songs and practice in our house, we pretty much only need to leave to record or like get groceries.”

“Okay. Mentally?”

“Fuck yes. We are _so_ ready.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I don’t know.” He thinks for a second. “I get that it’s gonna be really hard, but this is, like, the right age to have your first kid, right? Everyone says that you’re never fully prepared for your first kid, so why wait?”

“This is pretty scary.”

He brushes my hair behind my ear. “Let’s not think about this now. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

 

Our honeymoon is amazing. Paris is beautiful, and we get A BUNCH of pictures and have a lot of fun!

We get together with our agent when we get back. It takes a long time to confirm it, but we set up a yearlong tour that will dance around the U.S.A. before going to different countries. We put out 3 new songs and film a video announcing the tour. The news is all over the internet. Advertisement companies offer to shoot a commercial but we turn them down because our fanbase is pretty much internet based, ya know?

The tour is an incredible experience. Meeting fans from all over the place is so cool, and oh my god, there are so many of them! We sign lots of autographs and take lots of pictures. It’s really tiring and stressful, but I wouldn’t change anything about it.

When the tour ends, it takes over a year to have our first baby. Our surrogate is really, really nice. We form a great friendship with her.

We name our baby Lily. She has my genes. Taking care of her is a lot harder than I expected! But it’s worth it. She’s so beautiful. We have a second baby on the way now, with Dave’s genes. It’s too early to tell the sex yet.

Rose and Kanaya adopted a kid a while ago. He’s adorable. Kanaya is a runway designer now! Oh, and Karkat got himself a literary agent and started writing a book. Jade lives near us now, too, but is still looking for a steady job.

Everything is great. Dave and I rarely fight, I see my friend’s regularly, I have a little baby girl, and I have a job that I love. I can’t wait for my high school reunion so I can show those bullies how awesome things are! Hahaha. Really, I can’t wait. It’s just around the corner. My dad called saying an invitation showed up at his house. Dave and I will be flying to Washington with Lily so we can attend.

I’m looking forward to spending the rest of my life with Dave Strider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wipes tears dramatically* thiS IS THE END *sniff, sniff* MY FIRST EVER FAN FICTION IS OVER *blows nose*  
> Thank you all so much for all the support I've gotten for this fic. I wasn't even going to post it in the first place, and then I did, and I was so pleased with the outcome! It's been a great experience, god, I love writing fanfiction.  
> Okay, I will give you a summary of my next fic now. I'm not sure when I'm going to post the first chapter.
> 
> TITLE: I Wanna Be Yours  
> SUMMARY (may be changed later): John Egbert has been best friends with Dave Strider for what seems like forever. They seemed inseparable! But things start changing when Dave Strider performed a love song addressed to "his best friend" for the school talent show.  
> DETAILS: highschool au, fluffy with mild angst at first and then it gets much angstier, it will be around 14 chapters probably but I'm not done writing it
> 
> This fic will be different than Two and a Half Weeks, but I hope you'll read it anyway! I kind of wanted to experiment with angst? Anyway....
> 
> My URL is wanderingwitchoftime.tumblr.com so if you want to contact me about Two and a Half Weeks, I Wanna Be Yours, possible future fics/ideas for fics, oneshot requests, or anything else you should do it there! Anon is always on if you're shy :) Also, if you by any chance drew fanart for this fic or loosely based off of this fic, or anything like that, you should totally send me the link!! 
> 
> Whew, like I said, long notes. Thank you again for reading this fic, it would mean a lot to me if you'd tell your friends ;p  
> <3<3<3


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